Madhya Pradesh: Crops destroyed by dry August and excess September rain

Farmers of Madhya Pradesh have been hit by both drought and rain in monsoon 2023. First, the drought in August caused huge damage to the soybean crops. Heavy rain in September has now put the sugarcane crop in trouble.

In August, there were no rains for 18 days in Bhairopur village in Seoni Malwa tehsil of Narmadapuram district, said farmer Santosh Patwari.

“The region was facing drought-like conditions and paddy, maize and soybean crops reached the verge of drying up. After a long gap, it started raining in the first week of September,” Patwari said. “Caterpillars, which cause damage to crops, disappeared due to heavy rains but the heavy wind scattered the soybean crop on the ground.”

Soybean crop is standing at some places, but there are no pods in it, the farmer said. “A minimum of Rs 15,000-18,000 was spent on an acre of crops, including sowing, purchasing seeds and other expenses. It is unlikely even these costs would be recovered,” he said.

Shailendra Singh Rajput, resident of Bairakhedi village of the same district, said he had planted paddy in nine acres. “Sudden heavy rain and floods submerged the paddy and some was flattened. I would be lucky with even  50 per cent production,” he said.

Suraj Bali Jat, farmer of Seoni Malwa, planted soybean on 20 acres. He spent about Rs 25,000 per acre on labour and diesel, but most of it may go down the drain due to the dry August. “I managed to save about five acres of crop by irrigating it with motor pump. But caterpillars not only ate the soybean leaves but also damaged the small pods growing in them,” he said.

This is not the condition of Narmadapuram district alone. Farmer Basant Kumar of Charkheda village of Timarni tehsil of Harda district, adjacent to the same district, has planted soybean on 15 acres and maize on five acres. “Soybean has suffered tremendous damage and all the money invested would be lost,” Kumar said. 

Farmer Virendra Singh of Imlauda village in Shivpuri district said he had planted black lentil in his field. “When the crops started drying up due to lack of rain, I ploughed the field with a tractor and prepared it for the next crop,” he said, adding he will plant wheat next. 

Shivpuri district saw an average rainfall of 560.30 mm from June 1, 2023 to the first week of September. The normal for the region is 816.3 mm and a total of 1,208.98 mm rainfall was recorded last year.

Chandresh Singh, a farmer from Mohania Khedi village in Raisen district adjacent to the capital Bhopal, said he planted paddy in 20 acres of land. “There was no rain and cracks appeared in the fields, due to which the crop reached the verge of drying up. I managed to save some crops by watering them but had to plough the rest,” Singh said.

Omprakash Singh, a farmer from Bairakhedi in Narmadapuram district, has also ploughed the standing paddy crop of two acres. Not just Narmadapuram  and Raisen, farmers of Khandwa, Harda and Sagar districts have destroyed their crops too.

Losses due to sugarcane

The excess rains have heavily damaged sugarcane crops. Farmer Prateek Sharma, resident of Karp village of Gadarwada tehsil of Narsinghpur district said he planted sugarcane crop in 34 acres but about 60 per cent was damaged by excess rains and strong winds.

“Now the leaves are turning yellow and sugarcane has broken in a few places. The crop will be harvested in December and January, but rats will likely destroy the fallen crops. Farmers will have to irrigate after the rain stops but it will be difficult to irrigate the flattened ones and 40-45 per cent losses are likely,” he said.

Gokul Yadav, a farmer from Lakhapur village in Betul district, said he planted sugarcane crop on two acres and saved it by watering it in the summer and later again in August.

“As soon as the rains began in September, we had hope the crops will be saved but the opposite happened. Land became marshy and sugarcane flattneed due to the rains and wind,” he said.

Maize crops have also suffered huge losses in almost all the districts including Chhindwara, Betul, Harda, Narmadapuram. 

BU Dupare, senior scientist of the Indian Institute of Soybean Research Center, Indore, also said the crops have been damaged due to drought first and then excessive rains.

“In the East, it did not rain for a long time. The variety of soybean that is sown and ripens early was affected. It did not rain when a variety of crops needed water. Then there has been more rain in September at a time when short-duration crops were ready to ripen, he said.

Sanjeev Verma, senior scientist of Pavarkheda Agricultural Research Center of Narmadapuram district, said paddy crop suffered a lot due to drought.

“Some farmers somehow saved their crops by irrigation, but the production is sure to be affected. Due to drought-like situation, the thickness of the grains and the number per tree is sure to reduce,” he said.

Farmers further said they have received no assurance of  compensation for their losses by the government. “If that was the case, fields would have been surveyed and Panchnama (record of crop loss) would have been prepared,” said Surendra Rajput of Narmadapuram district.

“I informed the administration about the loss but till now no assurance has been received. If the administration does not respond, ever insurers will not compensate me. If the survey regarding losses is not conducted before the crop is harvested, then the farmers will not get the benefit even after getting crop insurance,” he added.

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