The threat of losing mortgaged homes and agricultural land, the perennially low prices of cash crops, and their falling demand have cast a shadow on the lives of thousands of debt-ridden farmers in Wayanad, a major producer of coffee and spices in the country.
C.J. Sebastian, 58, of Cheriyampanattu, a far-mer at Padichira, nearPulpally,in Wayanad took a farm loan of ₹10 lakh by mortgaging one acre of his six-acre land from the Sulthan Bathery Co-Operative Agricultural and Rural Development Bank Ltd (SBCARDB ) in 2012 for replanting pepper and coffee. But the pepper vines were destroyed by the quick wilt disease and drought in 2015.
Ginger price plummets
In 2016, he took a loan of ₹5 lakh from the Pulpally Evening branch of the Kerala Bank by mortgaging another one acre of land. He invested the amount in ginger cultivation in Karnataka with an intention of repaying the debt. Many a farmer in the area had reaped profits from ginger cultivation then. However, the low price of the produce dashed his hopes.He was forced to borrow from his friends and relatives to repay the interest and resume cultivation.
“I cultivated ginger in my six acres of land in 2021, but it is yet to be harvested as it has no demand,” Sebastian said. Four years ago , ginger fetched ₹6,000 a bag (60 kg). The price is just ₹500 a bag now,” he said.
However, the Kerala Bank authorities have started revenue recovery proceedings invoking the SARFAESI Act. “The SBCARDB also issued a warning on revenue recovery proceedings a few days ago,” he said.
Bijo K. Augustine, 44, of Kattamkottil, a small-scale farmer at Sasimala in Mullankolly grama panchayat had taken a farm loan of ₹4 lakh from the SBCARDB in 2015, pledging his 1.5 acres of land for replanting pepper vines.
The plants were destroyed in the flood in 2018. He too then tried his luck in ginger cultivation, taking a personal loan of ₹4 lakh from the Kerala State Financial Enterprises. Again, low price played the villain along with the diseases that affected the crop. Huge losses resulted and Bijo too is facing revenue recovery under the SARFAESI Act. “I tried to sell my land to repay the debts but nobody is ready to purchase it,” Bijo said.
2,000-odd farmers
The authorities had issued recovery notices to more than 2,000 farmers in the Pulpally, Mullankolly, and Poothady grama panchayats in the district recently, says P.M. George, district chairman, Farmers Relief Forum.
What the farming community needed was a comprehensive loan relief package rather than a year-long moratorium on repayment of loans taken from government agencies, say the forum members. The moratorium announced by the State government would not make much difference as most farmers had taken loans from financial institutions such as nationalised banks.
