Small Farmers in Vidarbha: Daily Struggles with Debt, Crop Losses, and Market Gaps

thenewsdirt
May 21
5 min read

Small farmers in Vidarbha, a region in eastern Maharashtra, face relentless challenges in sustaining their livelihoods.

Owning tiny plots of land, these farmers grapple with economic, environmental, financial, and social obstacles that make farming a precarious occupation. Their daily struggle to make ends meet reveals a complex web of systemic issues rooted in the region’s agricultural landscape.

What they face is not a temporary setback or a crisis; it is a system that has made survival itself a challenge.

Land Size, Input Costs, and a Shrinking Margin

Farming in Vidarbha is dominated by small landholdings. By 2015–16, the average plot size had reduced to 1.08 hectares, down from 2.28 hectares in 1970–71. These divisions, often a result of inheritance, limit scale and reduce the benefits of modern agricultural methods.

Mechanisation is applied in only 60 to 70 percent of major activities such as ploughing and harvesting.

The remaining tasks still rely on manual labour, mainly because equipment is expensive and unsuitable for small, scattered plots.

These structural limitations prevent farmers from accessing institutional credit or government schemes, which tend to favour larger holdings. Farmers cultivating cotton, a dominant crop in Vidarbha, are almost entirely dependent on Bt cotton.

This genetically modified variety now covers nearly all of the region’s 14 lakh hectares under cotton. The crop, however, has underperformed.

While it promised better returns, the actual yield in Vidarbha is 15 percent below the state average and 46 percent below the national average.

The input costs for Bt cotton are high. Farmers are required to buy hybrid seeds, use more fertilisers, and increase pesticide usage. This has led to steep expenses without a corresponding rise in output.

Cotton yields have dropped from 7 quintals per acre to as low as 2–3. Soybean has shown a similar trend, falling from 5 quintals to 1–2 per acre. These numbers make it difficult for small farmers to cover their basic costs.

The gap between minimum support prices (MSP) and actual market prices adds to the problem. The MSP for cotton saw a marginal increase from ₹4,000 to ₹4,050 per quintal, yet market rates declined from ₹5,000 to ₹3,500.

For soybean, the MSP stood at ₹2,560, while market prices dropped to ₹3,000 from ₹4,500. The mismatch between costs and earnings forces many farmers to sell at a loss.

With no direct access to urban markets, they depend on middlemen, who further reduce their share of profit. Transportation and storage infrastructure are poor, leaving them few alternatives.

Rainfall Dependency and Infrastructure Gaps

Vidarbha’s farming is largely rainfed, with 80–85 percent of farms lacking any form of irrigation.

Nationally, this figure is around 51 percent, underlining how much more vulnerable the region is. Rainfall patterns in recent years have been unstable. In June 2014, rainfall fell short by 80–85 percent.

Nagpur recorded less than 30 percent of expected levels. July saw a sudden increase, with over 100 percent of average rainfall, only to drop again in August to below 50 percent.

This unpredictability contributed to an 80 percent drop in soybean output in some locations and caused significant cotton crop failures. Unseasonal rains in November and December of the same year inflicted further damage.

Major irrigation projects like Gosikhurd and Jigaon have remained incomplete for years. Mismanagement and delays have left large portions of farmland dry.

Traditional water storage systems like malguzari tanks are either under-maintained or insufficient for current needs. Micro-irrigation, a potential solution, covers just 18.8 percent of India’s net irrigated area. Small farmers in Vidarbha rarely have the capital or technical support to adopt such systems.

The overuse of chemical fertilisers and lack of soil conservation practices have also affected productivity. Cotton crops in particular are susceptible to viral infections, made worse by soil degradation. As the land deteriorates, even experienced farmers find it harder to get consistent returns.

Climatic shifts have further worsened the situation. Erratic weather, including long dry spells and sudden storms, now occurs more frequently.

Projections indicate that climate change could reduce overall productivity by 25 percent by 2050. Although Maharashtra has held discussions on a climate action plan for more than nine years, no plan has been implemented.

Vidarbha’s farmers, therefore, remain exposed to environmental changes without any structural safety net.

Credit Access, Debt, and Market Isolation

Access to affordable finance remains one of the most serious issues for small farmers in Vidarbha. Most lack the collateral or documentation required for formal loans. As a result, many turn to informal moneylenders who charge high interest rates.

A single failed crop or a drop in market prices can leave a farmer unable to repay, pushing them deeper into a cycle of debt.

Banks and cooperatives often favour larger farmers or those with existing records, creating a barrier for those with small or newly inherited plots.

Even when institutional loans are available, the process of application process is slow and complicated. Without proper guidance, many farmers miss out on available schemes.

Market access is another major constraint. Small farmers rarely transport their produce to bigger markets due to the cost and lack of vehicles. Instead, they sell to local traders who dictate prices. These traders often underpay, particularly during high supply periods.

Storage facilities are inadequate, which means farmers have no choice but to sell immediately after harvest, even if the prices are low.

Limited access to market information also affects their decision-making. Without knowledge of price trends or demand in other regions, they are unable to plan which crops to grow or when to sell.

This lack of transparency reduces their ability to negotiate and leaves them at the mercy of intermediaries.

Social Limitations and Rising Human Costs

Many small farmers in Vidarbha lack formal education or access to extension services. Without training or guidance, they continue using outdated farming methods.

This increases the risk of crop failure, particularly in the face of disease outbreaks or weather disturbances. Government programs exist to promote modern techniques, but awareness and implementation are low.

Caste-based discrimination limits resource access for marginalised communities. Such farmers are often excluded from land leases, group farming opportunities, or cooperative societies. This restricts their growth and participation in larger value chains.

Migration is becoming a common trend. As incomes fall, many rural families send younger members to cities for work. Between 1995 and 2013, the share of the rural agricultural workforce fell from 72.4 percent to 39.2 percent.

With fewer hands to work the land, farming becomes even harder. Tasks are delayed or remain incomplete, reducing productivity further.

The human impact of this situation is most visible in the suicide statistics. From 1995 to 2013, Maharashtra saw 60,750 farmer suicides.

Vidarbha recorded the highest number, with an average of 3,685 deaths per year, roughly 10 per day over a decade. The causes are complex but consistently include debt, crop failure, and lack of support systems. These deaths are not isolated events but part of a larger pattern linked to economic stress and institutional failure.

In Vidarbha, farming is an uphill effort against many forces, often beyond the farmer’s control.

Every season brings a new set of challenges layered on old ones. The situation is shaped by land constraints, failing infrastructure, unstable weather, limited credit, and poor market access. It continues year after year, largely unchanged.

What unfolds in the villages of Vidarbha is not merely a local issue but a reflection of deeper structural challenges within Indian agriculture.