A demographic shift seems to be underway among the farming populace of north Gujarat’s fertile cotton-growing belt. Young farmers are conspicuously absent in fields across Mehsana, among the largest cotton-producing districts.
Uncertainties about the next generation continuing to work on the land are met with lamentation and support in equal measure. After all, why would they farm, a few incredulous voices wonder, if “our toil has provided them with an education”?
“My sons don’t turn to agriculture; they’re setting up a business in Ahmedabad. At least, returns are assured there after a few years of risk,” said Kanhaiyalal (52), a father of two, who owns 10 acres in Unjha taluka’s Tunda village and cultivates cotton, tobacco, castor and wheat.
Cotton prices have slid to minimum levels at ₹4,050 (long staple) per quintal and ₹3,750 (medium staple) on the back of a global commodities bust. A slide of 14-20 per cent in 2014-15, according to various data sources. China, the world’s largest importer, is buying less this year, exacerbating the cotton-grower’s plight.
Kanhaiyalal said he received about ₹807 per maund (20 kg), which barely spells a profit, particularly after he received almost ₹1,300 per maund for kapas (raw cotton) last season. He grew 15 quintals across 2.5 acres this season, which fetched him around ₹61,000. He had worked for six months and his cost of production was ₹30,000.
“There is a shortage of labour in Tunda, otherwise I could have saved a little more money,” he said. He spent ₹1,200-1,500 on labour for each of the four pickings.
According to State government estimates, cotton acreage doubled in Gujarat in the past decade, with nearly 33 per cent of 89 lakh hectares of agricultural land under cotton (mostly genetically modified Bt Cotton).
Chasing ‘urbandance’
Although age demographics data is sparse, the 2010-11 agricultural census pointed to a 28.05 and 11.95 per cent, respectively, decline in the number of large and medium farmers (owning more than 4.9 acres) in Gujarat, while the number of marginalised farmers rose 14.55 per cent.
Finding labourers for picking cotton seemed to be an issue in the three villages Business Line visited. It costs ₹120-200 to hire a picker for four hours, and many farmers felt they could have saved on this had their children stayed back.
Ishwarbhai (65) from Kansarakui village felt that while the prosperity bestowed by cotton cultivation had helped build a high school in the area and improve the local hospital, it had also pushed farmers’ children away. “If you have a steady income and the work is not physically demanding, can you blame them for picking jobs in Surat and Ahmedabad?” he said.
Problem of plenty
Prices are unlikely to improve next year with an imminent supply glut, and the Cotton Association of India pegging output in 2014-15 at 40.2 million bales (of 170 kg each), marginally down from 40.7 million in 2013-14.
Farmers in Jetalwasna village said the mounting losses and uncertain markets are further pushing their sons and daughters towards lower-risk occupations in the city. “If the Government offered better supportive policies, it would improve the chances of the next generation taking up farming. Everyone, from politicians to private companies, has hurt those who work on the land,” said Prahladbhai (62), a cotton grower and schoolteacher.
(The writer visited Mehsana, Gujarat, on the invitation of ABLE-AG, a body of biotech firms)