In Maharashtra election, it is caste over crops

Soyabean sells Rs.700 below MSP and crops rot in unseasonal rain, but farmers seem to vote for their identity first. What’s gone wrong?

Maharashtra’s farmers are trapped in a vicious circle of loans and falling income. | Photo Credit: Bloomberg

Bhaskar Gunde, a 68-year-old farmer from Kandhar of Nanded district, Maharashtra, was returning from the APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committee) market. He had come to check the soyabean rates. The minimum support price (MSP) for soyabean was Rs.4,892. But the traders at the APMCs were buying it at Rs.4,200. Frustrated Gunde used “chosen words” for the traders and the government at a tea stall where Frontline met him. Gunde immediately defended the ruling BJP. He said he will vote for Mahayuti. “This election is not for the crop, it is for caste,” said Gunde. He comes from the Dhangar (shepherd) caste, which is under Other Backward Classes (OBC). The extreme polarisation on caste lines has superseded all other issues, including the agriculture crisis.

Maharashtra’s farmers are trapped in a vicious circle of loans and falling income. October and November are the harvest months: mainly of cotton, soyabean, paddy, and other grains. The cotton MSP this year is Rs.7,521. As per the State agriculture department, Maharashtra’s cotton production this year would be 19 lakh metric tonnes. The total area under cotton in the State this year is 40,71,000 ha. The market rate is Rs.7,000 to Rs.7,200 per hectare. This is not at all sufficient for the farmers. In the case of soyabean, the State is expecting a production of 58 lakh metric tonnes. The total area under soyabean 49 lakh 86 thousand hectares.

There are almost 18 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra where cotton and soyabean were the decisive issues during the May election. Mahayuti lost all of them. On September 30, the State government distributed Rs.2,500 crore to 65 lakh farmers as part of a scheme to cover the gap between MSP and the market price. But this money was for last year. This year, the prices are similarly falling. Voting for the Assembly election will take place in the middle of this. The opposition alliance, Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is making it an election issue.

“Farmers are really struggling. But the problem is that they don’t see any leader genuinely fighting for their cause. In a way, we have accepted that our problems will always be unsolved. This is why the farming crisis is not becoming the issue here,” said Avinash Tarange, a young farmer from Ausa, Latur.

In addition to the falling prices, the unseasonal rains this year have dampened the hopes of farmers. The rains of mid-October have washed away the crops in Marathwada and part of western Vidarbha. The State government immediately asked for the procedure of compensation to be started. But the process is lengthy. Moreover, as the revenue department is preoccupied with matters related to the model code of conduct, in many places the basic work of filing reports of crop losses has not yet been completed. The farmers’ anger has doubled with these losses.

Many studies on farmers’ suicides have shown that they take this extreme step in similar situations like these. The National Crime Record Bureau data has consistently shown that Maharashtra is the number one State in farmers’ suicides. A total of 2,851 farmers took their own lives in 2023 in Maharashtra. Last year, a report filed by the divisional commissioner of Marathwada shocked the State: it claimed that the agriculture situation in the region is so bad that one lakh farmers here are on the verge of dying by suicide. The report was labelled as an “exaggeration”. But it has not reduced the intensity of the situation.

The cost of agriculture is becoming higher and higher. A one-acre farm produces around seven to eight quintals of soyabean. The cost of seeds, fertilizers, harvesting and bags add up to Rs.18,000 to Rs.21,000 per acre. Eight quintals soyabean fetch Rs.34,000. This means, the farmers get just Rs.16,000 to Rs.20,000 per acre in their hands in one season. As much as 65 per cent of farmers in Maharashtra are small-scale land holders, with some three acres of the land.

To pacify farmers, Mahayuti announced Rs.6,000 from the State government in addition to the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Yojana’s Rs.6,000. But this did not help the Mahayuti in the Lok Sabha election. The Mahayuti government then came up with more schemes. It waived the electricity bills of farmers who use water pumps below 7.5 hp. These schemes are being welcomed by farmers. But they want MSP for their crops. Yadav Sasegave, a farmer from Vasmat, Hingoli said, “These schemes are helpful. But they are like bandages. We want a sustainable solution. Only MSP can do that.” When asked if he will vote for the party that promises MSP, Yadav said, “Assurances are never fulfilled. But still, we can think about it.”

The MVA alliance has promised MSP. The inflation in the agricultural sector has also made the case tough for farmers. In the last six years, the prices of DAP bags have gone up from Rs.600 to Rs.1,400. The labour for cotton was Rs.3 per kg and is now Rs.10 per kg. The tractor’s trolly rotter machine which cost Rs.6 lakh in 2014 is now Rs.11 lakh. The GST on all the products is also a matter of concern. MVA leaders are raising this issue in each rally. Congress State chief Nana Patole said, “This government’s approach to loot farmers for thousands of rupees in GST and give them back just Rs.12,000 under some schemes is now exposed. People are well aware of it. Farmers will not get carried away such schemes anymore.”

The crop insurance scheme is also under the line of fire. Farmers across the State are complaining about the minimal or zero compensation from insurance companies despite having paid the full premium. Data with the Maharashtra agriculture department clearly shows that insurance companies collected more in premiums from farmers and the State government than they paid out in compensation.

If all these issues become the center of political discourse, then they have a capacity to change the outcome of the election. But identity politics have mainly shaped the discourse. In his prime in the 1990s, leader of Shetkari Sanghtana (farmers’ union) Sharad Joshi used to say that “the farmers don’t have a caste. Farmer is his only identity.” Times have changed and polarisation has complicated matters. This is why nobody is sure whether the grim reality of farmers will really have any impact on the outcome of the Assembly election.