Deficient rain had reduced the yield of toor dal by around 40 per cent. Rudrappa Pawar, a farmer of Kumatagi village of the taluk, had hoped that at least the remaining crop would fetch him some money.
However, despite selling the crop in an open market, Mr. Pawar had to return empty-handed only with a promise that his Rs. 45,000 would be given to him after fifteen days.
“The trader, to whom I have been selling my grains for several years now, said that since the government had banned Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes, he did not have enough money to pay me. So, he has given me a promissory note saying he will pay the money in fifteen days,” he said.
This is the hard reality of the farmers in the region. It is a double whammy for them – on one hand, drought has affected their crop yield, on the other, demonetisation has hit their earnings.
With toor being sowed across over four lakh hectares of land in the district this kharif season, harvesting has already begun in many parts. However, on delivering the commodity to the traders, farmers are walking away with promises instead of money. “The traders either pay post-dated cheques to farmers who have bank accounts, or promise to pay them after a few days. If we insist on payments, the traders pay us small amounts in cash. What about farmers who do not have bank accounts? They are the ones who are at the receiving end in this crisis,” Mr. Pawar said.
The farmers say that without cash, they are unable to buy seeds for the rabi season.
Meanwhile, the traders have their own reasons for not paying cash after purchase. They say that after demonetisation, they have limited cash in hand. Therefore they are giving out post-dated cheques or promissory notes to farmers.
