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In a debt trap PARASHUARM RAY
With the prices of areca nut falling owing to the lifting of import restrictions, small and marginal farmers find their sole source of livelihood does not sustain them any longer. In the first of a two-part article, PARSHURAM RAY surveys the extent of the crisis. THE crisis in areca nut farming is a classic example of the ruinous impact of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) regime on the Indian agriculture and livelihoods. Karnataka and Kerala account for 72 per cent of the total 3,13,000 tonnes of areca. Over six million farmers are engaged in areca cultivation, 85 per cent being small and marginal farmers solely dependent on areca cultivation for their livelihood. The magnitude and severity of the crisIs created by the price crash due to indiscriminate import of areca nut has been direct, unbearable, debilitating and, in many cases, fatal. Sadanand Bhatt is a small farmer of Unchalli village, Sidhapur taluka, Uttar Kanara district. He has a small areca nut garden of 27 guntas (One acre = 40 guntas), the sole source of livelihood for his three-member family. Bhatt is a traditional areca grower and his garden is 500 years old. But his centuries-old livelihood is on the verge of collapse since the areca nut price has crashed beyond imagination. After quantitative import restrictions on areca nut were removed in 1999, the Indian market has been flooded with cheap imports from Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and other countries. The domestic prices of areca nut began falling in January 2000 and have still not improved. K.K. MUSTAFAH Says Bhatt, "We are in serious trouble. I have taken a loan of Rs. 1,25,000 from bank. Every year, it is accumulating. I am unable to repay even the interest. I am disgusted and fed up with life. Our lives and livelihoods have become very uncertain. The operating cost is increasing but prices have crashed. However, we have to carry on life. Most of the time we live on kanji (boiled liquid rice) only and to meet the basic requirements of daily life we have to borrow." Sadanand Bhatt's is not an isolated case. All the 28 households in Unchalli village are areca nut farmers. All are in deep financial distress. Not a single areca farmer of this village is free from loans. Chippage is just a five-minute drive away from Sirsi town. Almost all the households of this village are traditional areca growers and it is their main source of income. Most are small and marginal farmers owning less than an acre. Almost all have been facing a very difficult time for three years due to price crash of areca nut. Srikant Shambhu Hegde is an areca grower of Chippage. The crash in prices of areca nut has already taken a heavy toll on his mental health. "I am depressed. Every moment I worry about loan repayment. My outstanding amount has now increased to Rs. 5,60,000. I would like to repay it back as soon as possible. In my village all the areca farmers are under similar distress. But we do not know how to do that." Shambhu Hedge has 1.25 guntas of areca garden and 1.5 acres of dry land. While the total areca produce of 1999 fetched him Rs. 2,00,000, he could not get even Rs. 90,000 last year. Hegde adds, "if the areca nut price does not improve, it will be difficult to survive. Now, the time has come for areca growers to raise their voice against the forced import of arecanut and its illegal entry in our country."
Manjunath Ramachandra Bhatt, an areca farmer of Huggigadde village, Sidhapur taluka, Uttar Kanara, committed suicide on June 15, 2003. He left behind a note, "because of heavy loan burden, I am committing suicide". Bhatt had 33 guntas of areca garden, which was his sole source of livelihood. He had taken loan of Rs. 80,000 from banks and societies and Rs. 40,000 from a private moneylender. He had to pay Rs. 25,000 as annual interest. His mother, Lolakshi Bhatt, says, "The bankers had served notice and came once or twice but private lenders used to come frequently and ask for repayment." Subroy Ramchandra Bhatt, his younger brother, was doing diploma course in electronics but has discontinued his education to look after his areca garden. He says, "Sharp decline in areca nut price is the main reason behind our misery. Areca is our only source of income." Intercrops like banana, black pepper, cardamom and betel vine hardly fetch Rs. 3000-4000". His mother, Lolakshi Bhatt, says: "Our life was quite comfortable till 2000. We are now very worried as to how will we earn our livelihood". Shanker Narayan Janardan Hegde, an areca farmer in Ammachi village, Sidhapur taluka, committed suicide on September 27, 2001 unable to repay his outstanding loan amount of Rs. 4,00,000. Hegde had one acre and 10 guntas of areca garden and a family of five to support. Most farmers resorted to borrowing with hopes of higher returns from areca gardens. With that hope belied, their lives and livelihoods are now in jeopardy. Rekha, Hegde's elder daughter, and Vinay Shankar, his younger son, have both discontinued studies. Besides Hegde's wife and old mother, there is a younger brother who is mentally retarded. Bankers and private moneylenders are harassing the family to return the loans. Rekha says: "After my father's death, everyone is talking about my marriage. I have become the biggest burden for the family. My brother is young. He does not know anything about the work. If I am married, who will look after my mother and grandmother?"
Ramachandra Narayan Hegde is a small farmer of Kotemane village. He has 30 guntas of areca garden and one acre of paddy. This is the sole source of income for his family of six. He has taken loans to the tune of Rs. 5,00,000. This year he got eight quintals of areca from his garden, which he sold for Rs. 50,000, but even that was not enough to fulfil his interest commitments to the society. He borrows from village society for his family's daily needs. And the entire areca produce in turn is already committed to the society. His loan amount was only Rs. 2,00,000 in 2000 but due to falling prices, Hegde has been unable to pay even the interest in the last two years and so the loan has increased. Kotemane Village in Ellapur Taluka of Uttar Kanara district is a traditional areca farmers' village. All the 20 families are fully dependent on areca nut for their livelihood. All are Havyak Brahmins (a traditional areca cultivating community). Areca nut cultivation was so profitable that they never spared a thought about other means of livelihood. Areca nut growers enjoyed a high social status and economic glamour until 1999 when globalisation dealt them a fatal blow. Now all are only a shadow of their past. The village of 20 areca farmers has an outstanding loan amount of more than one crore rupees. And now they are literally living by borrowing. To buy all essential items, they borrow from societies and private moneylenders. Banks have stopped advancing loans to them because all the farmers have stopped paying even interest dues to the banks. The areca farmers of Kotemane have fallen in to the literal debt-trap. (To be continued) (The author is currently director of New Delhi-based Centre for Environment and Food Security. This article is based on the research carried out by him under an Oxfam GB Fellowship to study the impact of international farm-trade on the livelihoods of areca nut farmers.) |
