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As many as 36 per cent of farmers in Telangana are tenant farmers and about 10 per cent of them are women, according to a survey conducted by the Rythu Swarajya Vedika (RSV).
RSV is an umbrella organisation comprising farmers’ associations, non-government, agri economists and scientists.
RSV surveyed 7,774 farmers in different parts of the State, throwing light on the life of tenant farmers. “Of the 7,774 farmers, we found that 2,753 farmers are tenant farmers. This is more than double the NSSO estimate,” Kiran Kumar Vissa of RSV, told businessline.
Mounting debt
Releasing the report here on Wednesday, he said the average agricultural debt per tenant farmer family stood at ₹2.7 lakh.
“Of this, ₹2 lakh is from private lenders, who charge an interest rate in the range of 24 to 60 per cent,” the survey said.
“With the State Government refusing to recognise tenant farmers, they are not able to get access to various government schemes and credit from institutional investors,” he said.
“Banks do not give loans for leased lands. Since the government is not giving the farmers Loan Eligibility Cards, they are not able to get bank loans,” he said.
Multiple problems
The report finds that tenant farmers face challenges at different levels. “They depend on private money lenders, input dealers, gold pawnbrokers, commission agents and landowners for their investment needs,” the report observes.
“Since they don’t have any identity or ownership on land, they also face difficulties in selling the produce,” it said.
The survey debunks the government argument that the churn rate among tenant farmers was very high and identifying them was a difficult task. “Over 50 per cent of them are doing farming by leasing lands for more than 5-10 years. Over 53 per cent of the tenant farmers are doing farming in rain-fed areas, while 21 per cent of them under borewell irrigation,” the report said.
About 38 per cent are paying the rent up front, while 20 per cent of them pay 50 per cent of the rent at the time of signing the agreement. This obligation puts a lot of pressure on them as they have to mobilise huge funds well ahead of the cropping season.
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