The four festivals scheduled in succession in September-October have posed a problem for farmers as the phenomenon has created a dire shortage of agriculture labourers in Adilabad district. There is no adequate number of workers to harvest crops especially cotton which requires manual picking.
“As the labourers stayed away from work owing to Ganesh festival followed by Bathukamma, Durga Navaratri, Dasara, Muharram and the ongoing Boddemma not many cotton fields saw due harvesting. Now, majority of the fields are flush with matured crop which requires a greater number of labourers which currently is non existent,” explains farmer Dura Pochaiah of Kapparla village in Tamsi mandal.
“The phenomenon will result in import of labourers from neighbouring Maharashtra which will see wages for picking cotton shooting up,” added farmer Addi Ramchander Reddy of Jamidi village in the same mandal. At present labourers are being paid Rs. 5 for every kilogram of cotton picked and it is likely that the wage will see revision of Rs. 6 per kg, according to farmers. Between 5 and 7 women labourers are required to pick cotton in one acre of field to harvest all the produce of the first picking in about two days. The number of labourers required for harvesting the crop in the 3.2 lakh hectares in which it has been sown is quite high despite the harvesting season spreading over 2 to 3 months.
Cotton has become the most important crop even for agriculture labourers this year as it promises a healthy yield at an average of 8 quintals per acre. This also means that it will generate most of the wages from the agriculture sector.
Even if the production is taken to be 50 lakh quintals within the district, as is estimated by the Agriculture department, the wages generated will be to the tune of Rs. 250 crore, the picking charges being Rs. 5 a quintal. There is every chance the amount of total wages going up what with the likely increase in cotton picking charges. An individual labourer picks between 40 kg and 50 kg of cotton everyday working for about 8 hours. This gets the individual a wage between Rs. 200 and Rs. 250.
