Vidarbha village abandons cotton crop

Vidarbha village abandons cotton crop

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NDTV Correspondent

http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?slug=
Vidarbha+village+abandons+cotton+crop&id=98804&category=National#

Tuesday, January 2, 2007 (Koljhari):

1.The farmers have decided here, not to cultivate cotton. Also because, our Union agriculture minister Mr Sharad Pawar knows "C" as for Cricket and not Cotton, activist Mohan Jadhav ridicules the minister's priority for cricket over cotton.

A village of cotton growers in Vidarbha has decided not to grow the crop again after losses and debt led to suicides by farmers.

Koljhari village in the Yeotmal district used to top cotton production in Maharashtra.

The family of Vasantaa Aade managed to get just 20 quintal from 15 acres this season and there are no takers.

"I had stored it in my house for a month. When I took it out to sell, the centres are closed and there is no proper price. Hence, I am taking it back home, Aade, who is a cotton farmer said.

The year 2006 was a bad year for cotton farmers of Vidharba. More than 1000 farmers committed suicides because they could not repay loans.

After two suicides in Koljhari, the farmers there decided to take stock of the situation.

The widow of Chhaya Rathod said, "before he ended his life, my husband used to say, stop growing cotton and now the villagers have decided to follow what he preached".

Activists say this is the first village in Vidharba to have made such a resolution for the new year.

"The farmers have decided here, not to cultivate cotton. Also because, our Union agriculture minister Mr Sharad Pawar knows "C" as for Cricket and not Cotton," activist Mohan Jadhav ridicules the minister's priority for cricket over cotton.

Farmers are increasingly desperate to turn away from cotton at the non-irrigated lands.