Many farmers in drought-hit parts of Arsikere are resorting to selling their cattle for paltry sums as it is increasingly becoming difficult to provide them fodder and water. These days, the weekly cattle markets held in different places in the taluk are packed with such desperate farmers.
In the last few months, hundreds of farmers in Arsikere and Belur taluks have sold their cattle. Lokesh Siddaveerappa, a coconut grower of Arakere in Arsikere taluk, sold his four cows recently, thus ending his family’s long history of cattle rearing. His son Sharat Kumar (27) told The Hindu, “From the time of my grandfather, we had been rearing cattle. During our school days, there were about 40 head of cattle in our house. My father put an end to this recently and the cattle shed has been converted into a room to store coconuts.”
Mr. Siddaveerappa said his hand was forced by the lack of water and fodder. “It has been a drought here for the past two to three years. The yield in coconut farms too has come down. Borewells and tanks have gone dry. From where should we get fodder and water?” he asked.
Hema, an agricultural labourer in the same village, said her family had sold three head of cattle. “Fetching two pots of drinking water has become difficult these days. When this is the condition, how can we take good care of the cattle?” she asked.
Paramesh of Mastihalli, near Banavara, said, “An HF (Holstein Friesian) cow requires at least four to five pots of water a day. You won’t believe it, but some days we don’t get even two pots. Many farmers have come to a conclusion that it is easy to sell them, instead of watching them die every day.”
When this reporter visited the weekly cattle market at Arsikere on Wednesday, hundreds of farmers had arrived with their cattle. Some of the buyers were farmers, but most were purchasing cattle for meat purposes.
Among those present was Ramesh of Gandasi, a trader who purchases cattle from villagers and sells them in the market at a higher price. He said, “Many farmers have already sold their cattle. They can’t keep them long in a situation of drought.”
