Amarpal Singh Verma, senior journalist
Growing wheat in Rajasthan has now become an increasingly expensive proposition for farmers. The situation is such that on one hand the cost of farming is increasing rapidly and on the other hand the savings of farmers are not increasing in the same proportion. The seriousness of this problem is clearly visible from the data of Marketing Estimate 2025 of the Union Agriculture Ministry. The big question is how and for how long will farmers be able to bear the continuously increasing costs?
According to statistics, the cost of producing one quintal of wheat in Rajasthan has reached around Rs 1488. Whereas in Punjab the same cost is around Rs 905. That means the farmer of Rajasthan is spending about 64 percent more in growing wheat than the farmer of Punjab. This is not just a difference in figures, but the reality of the difficult conditions that farmers in Rajasthan are facing while farming.
The minimum support price i.e. MSP of wheat in the country is fixed equally for all the states. This year the MSP of wheat has been kept at Rs 2585 per quintal. This system sounds equal, but the problem arises because the cost of farming varies from state to state. In Punjab and Haryana, due to better irrigation system, strong agricultural infrastructure and higher production, the costs for farmers remain relatively low. At the same time, the farmers of Rajasthan are forced to do farming amidst less water, expensive irrigation and increasing wages. In such a situation, despite having the same MSP, his actual savings remain much less.
Water shortage is the biggest challenge for farming in Rajasthan. In many areas of the state, farmers are completely dependent on tube wells and underground water. Ground water is continuously going down and the expenditure on electricity and diesel for irrigation is continuously increasing. Wheat needs timely and frequent irrigation, this irrigation naturally becomes more expensive here due to the expense of electricity and diesel. In comparison, the strong network of canals and groundwater based irrigation in Punjab has been providing relief to the farmers for years. There is a network of canals in most of the areas of Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh districts, but here also canal closure creates problems at the time of need for crops.
Wages are also becoming a major reason for increasing cost of farming. Agricultural wages have increased rapidly in Rajasthan in the last few years. Due to increasing migration of laborers from villages to cities, laborers are not easily available at the time of farming. Farmers are forced to call laborers by paying higher wages. This expense proves to be even more heavy for small farmers. The cost of machines is also continuously increasing. The rental of tractors, combines and other agricultural equipment has become much more expensive than before. The rising prices of diesel have further increased this burden. For farmers who have less land, the cost of machines is more in proportion to the production.
This is the reason why the cost of not only wheat but also crops like mustard, gram and barley is continuously increasing. It is noteworthy here that Rajasthan government has started giving bonus of Rs 150 per quintal on wheat to provide relief to the farmers. This step is certainly commendable, because it provides some financial support to the farmers, but considering the speed with which the cost of farming is increasing, this relief is very little. Many farmers believe that the government should also consider increasing the bonus amount, so that they can get real relief. A complete solution to the problem is not possible with bonuses alone. (These are the personal views of the author)
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