Khamgaon soybean farmers hit by low yield and weak prices after poor rain

Deficient rain this year has badly damaged the soybean crop in the Khamgaon area. A dry spell in the monsoon hurt crop growth, and many farmers have harvested only 50 kg of soybean per acre. Market prices at harvest time are also not satisfactory, leaving farmers hit on two fronts.

From sowing to harvest, farmers spend heavily on seed, fertiliser, spraying, ploughing and labour. This year, however, the crop did not come up as expected because of the rain shortfall. In many places the number of pods was low, causing a steep fall in production. Farmers are asking how they will recover their cultivation costs if they get only 50 kg of soybean per acre.

The fall in production has upset farmers' finances. Soybean is also not fetching the price that was expected, which has added to the difficulty. With Diwali near, farmers have to sell soybean to meet household expenses and repay loans. But with low production and low prices, they are unlikely to get enough money in hand. Soybean growers this year are struggling with both the blow from nature and the problem of market prices.

Farmers are demanding that the government survey the crop loss and provide financial aid, and take steps to ensure soybean gets a fair price.

Shrikrishna Tikar, chairman of the Khamgaon Agricultural Produce Market Committee, said farmers were already in difficulty because of the fall in soybean production. Their worry has grown further as market prices have dropped compared with last year. With production costs, labour and spraying costs higher, getting the expected price is essential, he said. He added that the arrival and rates of soybean in the market committee were being monitored.

Raju Nakade, state president of the Satyagraha Kisan Sanghatana, said that because of the poor rain this year soybean farmers are not getting even 50 kg per acre from their fields, and the crop is not getting a fair price in the market. According to him, the government cannot escape its responsibility merely by announcing the minimum support price. He said panchnamas of the farmers' actual losses have been completed, yet no financial aid has been received, so the government is following a policy of stalling. Nakade also demanded that procurement centres be started at the minimum support price to give farmers relief.