Click to play videoSatara: While farmers in Marathwada in western Vidarbha reel under the threat of an imminent drought, farmers in western parts of Maharashtra are bearing fruits of the modern agricultural techniques.
For 56-year-old cotton farmer Yashwant Raghunath, employing costly Sunday labour to save saplings from withering away is not a luxury he can afford but a last ditch attempt to save his investment
"There has been no rain after the initial showers when I sowed my fields. Now, the cotton saplings have started appearing. We are watering each sapling with a glass of water twice each day because it has not rained,” says Bodhwadi farmer, Yashwant Raghunath Bavaskar.
Fears of a drought now look real for farmers in Solapur, Nashik and Marathwada. The region has received less than ten per cent rainfall.
However, just 800 kilometers away in Satara, things are different. Open fields are slowly giving way to irrigation pipes.
Over dependence on rain gods have given way to confidence that stems from these pipes that provide continuous water to each of these plants.
Levers control the exact amount of sunlight and temperature that the crops require.
Precision farming practices of the Green Houses, which is an offshoot of the National horticulture mission, have helped farmers make some profits.
"I was making losses year after year on my jowar and cotton cultivation. These newer techniques have helped not only break even and make profits but also helped me sustain my open agriculture,” says a farmer in Satara, Sanjay Shinde.
The Green Houses are something that agricultural scientists now want to replicate across northern parts of Amravati, Buldhana, Jalna districts and Marathwada region.
"The need is for farmers to realise that farming is not a mere profession they need to sustain through generations but view it as a business that needs to reap profits and sustain itself,” says Agricultural Scientist, Pradip Patil.
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