A farmers tills his land in Tumkur district in Karnataka
With 6 kilograms of jowar and castor oil seeds, along with a multiplying loan of Rs 3 lakh, Nanjundappa, a farmer in Tumkur district of Karnataka, prays every time he checks the moisture content in his field.
If sowing was done at the right time, the monsoon crop would have touched my knee by now, he says.
In several parts of the state, sowing has been delayed by over four weeks, due to deficit rainfall.
"August has come madam and so have you. Where is the rain? Water is available only at 1500 feet or more in borewells. If I do not pay up my loans, they have threatened to take away my land," said Nanjundappa.
Adding to deficit rainfall is the government's apathy in doling out monetary 'assistance' promised to drought-affected farmers.
A farmer should face loss of at least 50 percent of the produce to become a beneficiary. Sometimes, the 'assistance' is not in the form of money. While some are given input subsidy, others are given seeds for alternate cropping, a crop they may not even be familiar with.
Sometimes the 'assistance' is too little, such as in the case of Yogeshaiyya, a farmer. Even though he had been declared a beneficiary by the government eight months ago, the promised 'assistance' for his loss of Rs 40,000 is only Rs 750.
"What will I do with 750 rupees madam? You know how much labour costs today? 250 per person per day. This assistance is no help at all. And even that they delay so much," he said.
Reportedly, a total of Rs 456 crore has been distributed by both the central and state governments in 2012 and 2013.
"All payments are made by cheque, not cash, therefore often the delay is caused for printing and have them distributed often entails a bit of work. Early this year too, farmers suffered huge crop losses due to unseasonal hailstorm. The Karnataka government set aside 243 crore rupees. But then the elections came in the way so more the delay," said Krishnabyre Gowda, Karnataka's Agriculture Minister.
But farmers on the field say that waiting has become their way of life now. August and September has promised to compensate for 25 percent deficit rainfall so far, but that does not insure Karnataka from a third consecutive year of drought.