Farmers in Uttar Pradesh resort to barter system

Demonetisation and the subsequent cash crunch has forced many farmers and people living in rural areas of Uttar Pradesh to adopt the barter system once again.

“We are using the barter system as we have no cash. Landless farmers are working in our fields in exchange for vegetables and rice,” said Aadesh Rathi, a resident of Bagu- Santoshpur village in Baghpat.

‘Govt. has failed us’

“The government has failed to provide relief in rural areas. Bank branches and post offices here run out of cash very quickly. So we have decided to exchange food items with other people. We farm vegetables such as cauliflower and spinach. We have exchanged vegetables for paddy,” said Ashok Singh, a farmer from Baroli-Basdevpur in Bulandshahr.

“We have lost faith in the government.. Rural areas are totally neglected when it comes to distribution of fresh currency notes. The value of bartering items can be negotiated, but here we are not negotiating as it is not about business but about lives,” said Sunil Tyagi, a farmer from Siyana in Bulandshahr.

Some farmers are bartering seeds. “We are giving farmers seed on credit. Some are giving us vegetables,” said Than Singh, a farmer and a fertiliser dealer from Bulandshahr.

(The writer is a freelance journalist)