The withdrawal of high denomination notes has severely affected cash flow in the district, leaving the farming community in dire straits.
Farmers, who already marketed their kharif harvest, cannot spend the cash they have earned to prepare the ground for rabi cultivation, while the rest are not finding traders to purchase their produce.
Many ginger growers have left their produce on the farmland, waiting to sell at a suitable price.
Similarly, maize growers have delayed the harvest hoping that the situation will get better soon.
Steep fall in price
Rajaiah, of Boovanahalli in Hassan taluk, has cultivated maize. “No merchants are buying maize as they do not have cash to do so. Besides this, the price has also come down in the market as there is no cash flow. After the demonetisation came into effect, the price of maize came down from Rs. 1,700 to Rs. 1,350 a quintal, within a few days,” he said.
Harvest postponed
Similar is the case of ginger growers. Many of them have decided to leave the yield in the field for some more time, hoping that the situation will improve soon.
Lakshman, of Shantigrama village, has grown ginger in his two-acre farm. The yield is ready for harvest, but he has delayed it. “The price of ginger has come down in the last eight days from Rs.1,200 per bag to Rs.900 per bag of 62 kgs,” he said.
The delay in harvest will have adverse effects. Kanagal Murthy, a maize grower at Dodda Kanagal in Alur taluk, said even if it rained for a day, the standing crop would go waste. Like him, many are finding it difficult to arrange for labourers for harvest as there is no cash on hand to pay them.
The farmers who delay the harvest of ginger also face the loss, as tubers become dry and lose weight.
“I have been providing sufficient water to the ginger tubers so that weight is not lost,” said Lakshman. However, not every ginger grower can afford the luxury of watering the tubers for a long period.
The farmers, who sold their products early, are not getting cash for household expenses or for preparations for rabi cultivation. They have had to deposit cash in their accounts as they had received cash in the old currency.
The price of maize fell from Rs. 1,700 to Rs. 1,350 a quintal, within a few days after demonetisation
