After 20 years of tending to mango trees on his farm, Chintamani taluk resident Venkate Shiva Reddy scours his way through the urban jungle of Bengaluru hawking vegetables.
Failed monsoon in the past year was the last nail in the coffin for the 38-year-old agriculturist from Seekal village in Chickballapur district.
The loans touched Rs. 5 lakh, while water sources reduced drastically. Even the 1,300-ft-deep borewell dug barely two years ago at a cost of Rs. 1.75 lakh sputters out only muck.
While his family owns 12 acres — where tomatoes, capsicum, and mangoes were grown last year, he had the money and water to plant in just 3 acres. The mango plants started to dry out, and has not yet flowered this season, he said.
“I spent Rs. 16,000 on water tankers, and even this was not enough to prevent the farm from dying…It is impossible to continue farming. There is no water to drink, let alone for our fields. People are leaving the village in droves,” said Mr. Reddy.
With two school-going children, his aging parents and a wife to support, the farmer said there was “no option” but to abandon his field and seek daily wages elsewhere.
