It all started in the first week of March. Both state-owned and private weather meteorology agencies issued warnings of unseasonal rains and hailstorms. From March 2-3, the climate changed, and heavy rains and hail hit Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and parts of Uttar Pradesh. The timing of it all was the most unfortunate part.

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The unseasonal rains and hail happened when the rabi crops were ready to harvest. The unseasonal rains affected important rabi crops like wheat, maize, onions, mustard, and gram. These crops form 85 percent of the area normally sown for the rabi season.

Experts believe that these unseasonal rains will make a huge dent in revenue. Pushan Sharma lives, Director-Research, CRISIL Market Intelligence and Analytics told CNBC TV-18, "We tried assessing the revenue loss. For this calculation, we took two factors — what the farmers would have made had it not been for the unseasonal rains and what they will make now. For important rabi crops like wheat mustard, maize, and gram, the extent of revenue loss could be to the tune of Rs 13,000 crore."

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These unseasonal rains affected farmers in states like Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra. The damaged crops range from wheat and maize to onions, mustard, and various vegetables and fruits.

Affect on the Indian economy

This has significant ramifications for the rest of the country as well. Not only will state governments have to pay out large amounts as compensation, hurting their fiscal situation but the resultant food shortage could also mean another spike in food inflation. The big question is whether the government will consider hiking Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for the upcoming Kharif season to throw farmers a lifeline.

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Both state and Union governments made announcements to make up for the losses the farmers are staring at. The central government agency, the Food Corporation of India, relaxed the quality standards for wheat procurement and instructed its officers to accept slightly discoloured and shrunk grains.

The state governments announced compensation to the affected farmers. The Maharashtra government released Rs 177 crore to compensate the farmers whose crops were damaged due to unseasonal rains in March.

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The Punjab government announced that the compensation will be increased by 25 percent. If the loss was more than 75 percent, the government would provide a compensation of Rs 15,000/acre. If the loss was 33-75 percent, then the state government will provide Rs 6,750/acre.

Poll-bound Madhya Pradesh was also drastically affected by the unseasonal rains. The Madhya Pradesh government announced that it will provide Rs 32000/hectare (Rs 12,955/acre).

Why are farmers still angry?

But these announcements haven't brought relief to farmers. They say that they don't trust their respective state governments to walk the talk.

Hachal Singh Mewada and his wife Leelabai Mewada of Chanderi village in Madhya Pradesh's Sehore district said these hail-storms and rains destroyed almost their entire crop of wheat this year, putting even next year's earnings in jeopardy.

"Hailstorm destroyed everything. The grain has become black and all dried up. Our harvest would have been over 20 quintals but now it's barely 5-6 quintals," Hachal Singh Mewada told CNBC TV-18.

His wife, Leelabai Mewada, said, "With this quality and quantity, we couldn't even recover tractor and labour expenses. Now, for the next year, we will have to buy wheat from outside to sow as these low-quality grains can't be used for that."

Hitting out at the Centre, Mewada said, "The government has made tall claims regarding compensation. But the government still hasn't provided our pending compensation. So these claims don't mean much to us."

Seventy kilometres away, in Chopda village, Brajmohan Rajput said he was in a tight spot. He had taken 3 acres of land on lease, at a little over Rs 1 lakh rupees per year. But his mixed crop of gram and wheat has failed, and he now has no choice but to borrow from money lenders at exorbitant rates to feed his family and clear his dues.

"I was expecting at least 20 quintals of grams but got only 3 quintals. On top of everything, I have to pay the owner for the land. I will have to arrange the money from somewhere. I'll borrow money on interest. There is no clarity regarding compensation. Our surveys are still not over. For many fields, the survey team is not even making physical visits to assess the damage. Last year our soybean crop was damaged. We still haven't received that compensation amount," Brajmohan Rajput said.

Farmers across the state, from Bhopal to Mandsaur and Khargone, from Shahdol to Narmadapuram, Gwalior and Rewa, are in the same boat. It doesn't matter if they had sown wheat, gram, or vegetables. They said the compensation they were promised last year has still not come, so the hope that this year's promise will be kept soon is also dimming.

But the state government said the promised Rs 32,000 per hectare of the damaged crop will be paid as soon as surveys are done. Madhya Pradesh Agriculture minister Kamal Patel said, "The survey is going on. We will provide compensation and ensure the farmers get insurance money too. Every single farmer will be compensated."

But the deadline to finish the surveys was April 25 and surveys are still not complete. This means that the compensation payout will automatically get delayed, making matters worse for farmers who have to pay the labour, run their households, and start the next harvest cycle.

(Edited by : Akriti Anand, Pradeep John)

First Published:Apr 27, 2023 6:15 PM IST