Click to play videoThiruvananthapuram (Kerala): As the unexpected summer rains hit Kerala last week, the farmers of Kuttanad perhaps had the toughest time in their lives.
Two farmers have committed suicide and the rest are waiting for the wrath of nature end.
For 63-year-old Gopi, the rains spelt nothing but doom. His two acres of crops were completely destroyed.
Unable to pay back the loan he had taken, Gopi, a farmer in Kuttanad, the rice bowl of Kerala, committed suicide.
“My husband had no option. He had done all the cultivation on borrowed money. When the crops failed this year, he was very upset,” says Maniyamma, Gopi’s wife.
Gopi is not the only farmer ruined by the rains. Last Saturday another farmer, Pushkharan, also ended his life under similar circumstances.
The rich agricultural belt is suffering as crops in more than one lakh hectares have been damaged. The loss is estimated at close to Rs 40 crore.
“This unexpected rain has completely submerged our crops. I had taken loan for cultivating the three acres of land. Now I have lost about 15,000 rupees for every acre sown. Last year too the situation was bad. We haven’t got any help from the government,” says a farmer, Janardhanan.
The government says it has taken all possible measures to help farmers see through this phase of uncertainty.
Apart from arranging compensations, the state will also procure the failed paddy from the farmers through the civil supplies corporations.
Yet, the final answer perhaps lies in the hands of nature, because unless the rains stop, there will be little hope for Kuttanad's farmers.
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