FIELDWORK SEGMENT (PRM 2013 15)

Agriculture: Risks and Challenges

Based on a study in Mandwal Village

GRAM PANCHAYAT: Budhiya

BLOCK: Kotda
DISTRICT: Udaipur
STATE: Rajasthan

Submitted by:
Navneet Kumar Singh (34032)

Faculty Guide:
Prof. H.S.Shylendra

In partial fulfilment of the requirements of the FWS

Of the
Post Graduate Programme in Rural Management

INSTITUTE OF RURAL MANAGEMENT, ANAND

2013

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I want to express my gratitude to IRMA for providing such a good platform by

including this Field work Segment in our curriculum. This kind of experience is invaluable.
The field work gave me an opportunity to have an in depth view of the lives of the
villagers. My stay of 6 weeks in the village gave me a first-hand experience of the village
life, peoples aspirations and apprehensions. This was the most important part which
made the study comprehensive.
I would like to express my thanks to the host organization, Seva Mandir, for
providing us with comfortable arrangements.
I express my special gratitude to my theme paper guide, Prof. H.S.Shylendra for his
guidance through the course of this study and helping me with valuable input which made
this theme a success.
I would also like to put on record the efforts made by the host family and the
villagers in providing us relevant information which enabled me to complete this report.
They deserve special thanks for their hospitality and also for all their help throughout my
stay in the village.
Lastly, I thank almighty and my friends for their constant encouragement without which
this assignment would not be possible.

Navneet Kumar Singh

34032

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In India, agricultural risks are exacerbated by a variety of factors, ranging from climate
variability and change, frequent natural disasters, uncertainties in yields and prices, weak
rural infrastructure, imperfect markets and lack of financial services including limited span
and design of risk mitigation instruments such as credit and insurance.
Managing risks in agriculture is particularly challenging, as many risks are highly
correlated, resulting in whole communities being affected at the same time. Clearly, given
the widespread nature of resultant loss, financial recovery is particularly difficult and
challenging.
Subsistence farming and animal husbandry are major sources of livelihood in southern
Rajasthan areas. However, a drought prone and hilly climate, amongst other factors, means
that villagers are increasingly dependent on wage labour for their livelihoods too. One major
provider of wage labour in this region is the genetically modified BT cotton industry. A main
centre for the BT cotton industry is the state of Gujarat, but in the last 7-8 years BT cotton
cultivation has increased in southern Rajasthan.
Agriculture is the primary source of earning a livelihood in Mandwal. It has not been too long
since the adoption of modern days agricultural practices in the region. The knowledge they
had of agriculture was of decade old practices, which they are still following. The information
dissemination in the area took place when the migrated agricultural labourers working in the
farms in Gujarat returned to their places to carry on their own production.
BT cotton is a new big cultivation trend which has been first introduced in 2002 by a
migrated labour named Mr. Sarvjee Hakla. He learned the cropping from Gujarat farm and
introduced in Mandwal. Looking at the lucrative returns this crop cultivation has steeply
picked up in past 6-7 years. BT cotton is the biggest cash crop now, not only in Mandwal but
in the whole region.
Almost 99 % families of Mandwal are directly /indirectly associated with agriculture. Sandy
Loam soil is predominant in the region, with undulating terrains and rocky surfaces
surmounting the problems faced by the farmers in the region.

The objectives of the study is to:

To identify the various risks faced by farmers in Mandwal.

To analyse these short term and long term risks.
To formulate any feasible mitigation steps.

The various risks faced by the farmers in the Mandwal is broadly being categorised under
categories such as:

Weather / climatic risks

Crop failure
Market risk
Financial risk
Management/ operational risk

Apart from the innumerable risks, other challenges faced by farmers of Mandwal are further
categorised as:

Irrigation
Small land holding
Undulating topography
Lack of mechanization

Main occupation of village is agriculture but low production and low farm income has
resulted in migration of people.
We would get an unanimous vote betting that agriculture itself is a risky livelihood and that
too the rain fed condition prevailing in the Mandwal makes it even more risky. But still
accepting it as only option available with the farmers of Mandwal efforts are needed to
reduce the risks and challenges being continuously faced by the farmers.
Farmers and farming communities can employ risk management strategies that include crop
and labour (on and off farm) diversification, risk pooling arrangements among several
farmers by coming together and holding each other back, sharecropping, investing in semi
liquid assets such as livestock or buffer stocks, farmer self-help groups or such co-operative
formation, and loans from banks. One way producers have traditionally managed price
variability is by entering into pre harvest agreements that set a specific price for future
delivery. These arrangements are known as forward contracts and allow producers to lock in
a certain price, thus reducing risk, but also foregoing the possibility of benefiting from
positive price deviations.
Also the one solution to many of their problems is formation of co-operative of BT cotton
growers in the region.
Though, the farmers in the village have the feeling of mutual co-operation among them, but
there is dire need to exploit it in better sense and leverage the power of unity for the greater
good of society (farmers).

CONTENTS

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
LIST OF TABLES
LIST OF GRAPHS/FIGURES.
LIST OF ANNEXURES

1. INTRODUCTION
2. OBJECTIVES
3. ASSUMPTIONS & LIMITATIONS
4. METHODOLOGY
4.1. Village Selection
4.2. Selection of Research Methods
4.3. Sources of Data
4.3.1. Primary Sources of Data
4.3.2. Secondary Sources of Data

5. MANDWAL: AN INTRODUCTION
5.1. Location
5.2. Statistics
5.3. Income & Expenditure

6. AGRICULTURE IN MANDWAL
6.1. Crop Calendar

7. RISKS FACED BY THE FARMERS

7.1. Weather / Climatic Risks7.2. Crop Failure

7.3. Market Risk

7.4. Financial Risk
7.5. Management/ Operational Risk

8. CHALLENGES FACED BY FARMERS OF MANDWAL

8.1. Irrigation
8.2. Small Land Holding
8.3. Undulating Topography
8.4. Lack of Mechanization

9. COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS FOR BT COTTON

10. CONCLUSION

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Sr. No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Abbreviations
AAY
ADB
APL
ARMT
BPL
BT
GVK
HH
JSY
KCC
KVK
MGNREGA
NABARD
NGO
NRHM
SHG

Full Form

Antodaya Anna Yojana

Asian development bank
Above Poverty Line
Agricultural Risk Management Team
Below Poverty Line
Bacillus thuringiensis
Gramin Vikas Kosh
Households
Janani Suraksha Yojana
Kisan call centre
Krishi vigyan kendra
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee
Act
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
Non-Government Organisation
National Rural Health Mission
Self Help Group

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Land Holding Specification (I.C.A.R)

LIST OF GRAPHS/FIGURES

Graph 1: Families split based on economic criteria

Graph 2: Income split of people of Mandwal
Graph 3: Expenditure split of people of Mandwal
Graph 4: Reasons for crop failure
Graph 5: Various market risks.
Graph 6: Reason for not availing Banking Facility
Graph 7: Farmers availing Irrigation Facility
Graph 8: Landholding of farmers in Mandwal
Graph 9: Major threat to farmers of Mandwal responses.

LIST OF ANNEXURES

Annexure 1: Questionnaire

1. INTRODUCTION
In India, agricultural risks are exacerbated by a variety of factors, ranging from climate
variability and change, frequent natural disasters, uncertainties in yields and prices, weak rural
infrastructure, imperfect markets and lack of financial services including limited span and
design of risk mitigation instruments such as credit and insurance. These factors not only
endanger the farmers livelihood and incomes but also undermine the viability of the
agriculture sector and its potential to become a part of the solution to the problem of endemic
poverty of the farmers and the agricultural labour.
The poor penetration and development of various risk management tools in the country also
represent the huge opportunities for the emerging agricultural insurance and commodity
markets to pull the producer from out of the poverty trap by insulating him from income shocks
and by ensuring that a fair share of the price goes to the producer. Making a strong case for
moving risk management solutions towards a sustainable actuarial regime as also harnessing
the technological advances in various dimensions.
Managing risks in agriculture is particularly challenging, as many risks are highly
correlated, resulting in whole communities being affected at the same time. Clearly, given the
widespread nature of resultant loss, financial recovery is particularly difficult and challenging.
Subsistence farming and animal husbandry are major sources of livelihood in southern
Rajasthan areas. However, a drought prone and hilly climate, amongst other factors, means that
villagers are increasingly dependent on wage labour for their livelihoods too. One major
provider of wage labour in this region is the genetically modified BT cotton industry. A main
centre for the BT cotton industry is the state of Gujarat, but in the last 7-8 years BT cotton
cultivation has increased in southern Rajasthan.
Agriculture is the primary source of earning a livelihood in Mandwal. It has not been too long
since the adoption of modern days agricultural practices in the region. The knowledge they
had of agriculture was of decade old practices, which they are still following. The
information dissemination in the area took place when the migrated agricultural labourers
working in the farms in Gujarat returned to their places to carry on their own production.
BT cotton is a new big cultivation trend which has been first introduced in 2002 by a
migrated labour named Mr. Sarvjee Hakla. He learned the cropping from Gujarat farm and
introduced in Mandwal. Looking at the lucrative returns this crop cultivation has steeply
picked up in past 6-7 years. BT cotton is the biggest cash crop now, not only in Mandwal but
in the whole region.
Almost 99 % families of Mandwal are directly /indirectly associated with agriculture. Sandy
Loam soil is predominant in the region, with undulating terrains and rocky surfaces
surmounting the problems faced by the farmers in the region.

Risks faced by farmers are numerous and varied, and are specific to the country, climate, and
local agricultural production systems. Farmers face constraints that do not enable them to either
improve or increase their production and revenues.
In many cases, extreme poverty makes people very risk averse, often avoiding activities that
entail risk but that could also bring larger income gains. This inability to manage risk and
accumulate and retain wealth is sometimes referred to as the the poverty trap.
India was once at the apex of international achievement in agricultural innovation. Drawing on
a wide variety of international grain types, pioneers of high yielding hybrid seeds, notably M.S.
Swaminathan, were able to achieve in the 1960s and 1970s a real green revolution in India,
boosting agricultural productivity impressively and making the country fully self-sufficient in
its main food requirements for the first time in modern history. Scientific innovation was
supported by energetic policy at the Union and State levels to achieve one of the worlds most
striking agricultural successes of the 20th century. But then, as so often with success, a
purposeful policy dissolved into politicking and piecemeal implementation.
Unsupported by rigorous policy, excess use of fertilizers, unsustainable use of water resources
encouraged by free or subsidised electricity for farm pumps led to soil degradation and
depletion of sub-surface aquifers. This occurred at a time when an expanding population, the
first hints of the consequences of climate change and a sudden spike in agricultural commodity
prices in 2007-2008 linked to lower international grain stocks and a sharp rise in commodity
prices, notably oil, provided an unwelcome reminder to Indians that all was not well with the
agricultural policy. What ensued was impulse buying on international markets at the same time
as export of some items was prohibited (hurting mainly other developing countries, the
industrialised world having cornered all the food it needed). One salutary measure offered by
Delhi was the lowering of tariffs on some necessary international food imports but by
November 2008, the government was again raising tariffs on some products (soya) in order to
protect domestic producers.1

Source: Planning Commission report and Agriculture and Rural development discussion paper (World
Development conference)

2.
OBJECTIVES
To identify the various risks faced by farmers in Mandwal.
To analyse these short term and long term risks.
To look into challenges associated with the farming in Mandwal.
Also to reflect on role of various state and non-state factors affecting the agriculture
directly or indirectly in the region, and how they can contribute towards ameliorating
the situation.
And also on specific note a special emphasis was laid upon the BT cotton, since it is in trend
and the chief source of livelihood options for majority of farmers of Mandwal.

Selecting the sample households based on the farmers involved in the commercial
production of BT cotton in Mandwal.

Surveying the selected samples to gauge their cropping patterns and their interest
towards it.

Also analysing their proclivity towards continuing the BT cotton crop in the future.

Understanding the economies involved in commercial production of BT cotton and

the upper-hand it has over other crops in terms of yielding profit to the farmers.

3. ASSUMPTIONS & LIMITATIONS

The instruments, methods and analysis employed in this study are aimed to uphold the highest
possible level of neutrality and integrity. However, there are qualifications and limits to this
aim.

Data collection was carried out from a diverse range of backgrounds. Thus the
collection techniques were not standardised across all responses and could be biased
because of individual respondents.
Time and resources prevented data being collected from all villagers and across all age
groups, thus in many cases statistics are taken as an estimates.
Issue of trust was too evident in initial days of survey and the reluctance followed after.
Language barrier posed as one of the hurdles in communication and a transparent
response was not what we get, in the presence of interpreter.
Busy schedule of farmers it was the peak cropping season and BT cotton fields
exclusively demands too much of farmers time for emasculation and artificial
pollination, that it was difficult for us to have a lengthy conversations.
Considering the social norms, interactions with the women were limited .More
qualitative insights into the lives of women could have been possible had this not been
the case.
High illiteracy and lack of general awareness, at the end of the day has left us with
many unanswered questions.

4. METHODOLOGY
4.1. Village Selection
We were allocated Mandwal village by our host organisation Seva Mandir, as a part of VFS
segment stay and survey, for the partial fulfilment of course.
Village: Mandwal
Gram panchayat: Budhiya
Block: Kotda
District: Udaipur
State: Rajasthan

4.2. Selection of Research Methods

The study carried out was a combination of exploratory and descriptive study and the data
collected was both in qualitative and quantitative in nature. We collected data from the
village on resources, demography, religion, caste, social structure and dynamics, family size,
agro-climatic resources, infrastructure facilities, occupation, health, education and its quality,
migration, customs, rituals, livelihood systems and various organizational interventions in the
village.
The methodology adopted by us for our study consisted of collecting data from the
primary as well from the secondary sources, analysing the data and drawing our conclusions
from the analysis.

4.3. Sources of Data

4.3.1. Primary Sources of Data
1. Interviews with Prominent People: Unstructured interviews were conducted with
the Sarpanch (representative of Mandwal village), teachers of Government primary
school, Village Health Worker (also called ANM) and other important people of the
village.
2. PRA exercises: we conducted PRA to get a first-hand collective information about
the village.
3. Sample survey: The sample survey was conducted using the questionnaire. It
provided micro data on 40 HHs of the village on variables like occupations,
agricultural practices, sanitation, electricity, family details etc.
4. Other methods: Apart from this, our primary sources of data were also gathered
by field observations, informal discussions with the villagers, focus group
discussions, case studies and active listening.

4.3.2. Secondary Sources of Data:

1. Tehsil office records: Data on population, households, BPL, etc. was

obtained from tehsil records.
2. School records: Data on enrolment, teacher qualifications, drop outs etc. was
obtained from the school records.
3. Janani Suraksha Kendra (ANM) records: Data on levels of immunization
family planning was provided by the Village Health Worker.

and

4. Seva Mandir records: NRM, Watershed Management, MGNREGA, Data

regarding the SHGs, types of HH, students enrolled under Shivir, loans taken by
villagers from money lenders was obtained.
The process of data collection was initiated with secondary data collection from all the
major institutions in the village. Further, some unstructured interviews were conducted
first with village heads and prominent persons of village and later with people in each
hamlet (falan). Further data available in the Tehsil office at Kotda, Government primary
school, and ANM record were collected. With all the macro level data collected, a
sampling plan was chosen and the micro level data was collected using the questionnaire
designed. A survey was administered with a sample of 40 HHs.

5. MANDWAL: AN INTRODUCTION
It would be unjustified to talk about the various risks and challenges faced by the farmers of
Mandwal, without getting an insight of the village. It is important to understand the location,
contours, topography, market, connectivity, weather condition, etc., to have a proper hold of
the problems faced by the farmers living there.

5.1. Location:
The village lies at the border of Rajasthan and Gujarat. Though it comes under the
Udaipur district of Rajasthan, it is the last village of Rajasthan. The village boundary is
surrounded by Budhiya in West, mountains in East, Kelwa kua (Gujarat) in North and
Vasela in South.
The village comes under Budhiya Gram Panchayat named after the village Budhiya
which is at a distance of 4 Km West of Mandwal.
The village is about 145 km from Udaipur city and 28 km from Kotda, the block office for
the village. It is 10 Km away from Udaipur Ahmedabad highway and is connected by pukka
road.

The nearby market are: Khedbrahma (Gujarat) 24 km

Kotda (Rajasthan) 28 km

5.2. Statistics:
Total Area of village: 867 Hectare
Revenue Land: 313 Hectare
Forest: 190 Hectare
Pasture Land: 364 Hectare
Total Population is around 3000. Literacy Rate is about 23% (Male, as all surveyed female
were illiterate, though 40% enrolment was there in schools, of girl child)

State BPL
14%

Antyodaya
8%
APL 42%

BPL
36%

Graph 1: Families split based on economic criteria

Total Families are 665(tribal belt exclusively)
APL Families 280
BPL Families 241
State BPL Families 92
Antyodaya Families 52
It is quite evident from the data posted above that majority of village families fall among
various economically backward status group and requires fillip from government or NGOs
for barely survival. And those above poverty line are also not much above but lies very close
to boundary with an exception of 2 well off family.

5.3. Income & Expenditure:

Through rigorous questionnaire and unstructured interview I tried to look into the income and
expenditure of the households, in order to fathom the various priorities of the farmers. It gave

me a very good understanding of the mind-set of the farmers, and help me to look into the
things with the very eyes of the farmers. There poor management of money and wasteful
expenditure upon trivial items is one the reason for their backwardness or the pitiful state in
which they are.
Majority of the farmers of Mandwal falls into the category of marginal farmer with an
average land holding of 1 bigha (roughly 0.26 hectare) which is far below the national
average of 1.33 hectare, and also a handful of farmers ( 6 in number) lying into the strata of
small farmers.
Small Business
4%

Migrated labour
22%

Jobs
3%

Agriculture71%

Graph 2: Income split of people of Mandwal

The majority of village incomes comes directly/indirectly from agricultural activities solely.
The farmers sell their produce in Khedbrahma (Gujarat), whatever they grows. The second
segment earns their livelihood entirely or for few months in a calendar year by working into
farms of large farmers in Gujarat. Although the migration had seen a declining trend in recent
years because of opening of new dimensions of opportunity in the village and surrounding
areas. Few peoples engage in other activities, viz., one grocery store, 23 small kirana store, 1
jeep, and unauthorized liquor shops. And 12 families income comes from government job of
their family heads, working as permanent teacher, in Rajasthan police service and as siksha
mitra.

Addiction &
Health
20%

Agriculture
20%

Education
10%

Social
15%

Household
35%

Graph 3: Expenditure split of people of Mandwal

Because of large family size (average 5) major portion of income goes into household
consumption and other needs. The people in Mandwal spent equally on agricultural needs as
well as on the avaricious consumption of liquor and health issues. While a very little is spent
on education because upto 8th standard education is free and post that farmers send their
children out for studies (to Udaipur, Abu Road, Kotda). And also a great sum of financial
strength is drained in various social activities, such as marriage, death rituals, festivals, etc.

6. AGRICULTURE IN MANDWAL
Agriculture is the primary source of earning a livelihood in Mandwal. And Maize being the
major staple crop cultivated in the village which is most suited for the agro climatic condition
like soil and comparatively low irrigation water. All the households own some land where
they grow maize but for most of them, the harvested crop is used only for consumption since
most of the farmers are either marginal or small farmers. Few of the farmers also cultivate
wheat, red gram, mustard, Jowar etc. depending upon the land and water resource
availability.
BT cotton is a new big cultivation trend which has been first introduced in 2002 by a
migrated labour named Mr. Sarvjee Hakla. Sowing of BT cotton is done in the month of
August/ September. Though the crop cycle (till the plucking of last ball from the tree) of BT
cotton is of 4-5 months but selling and receipt of money takes another 3-4 months.
The various crops grown in the area are broadly categorised into two basic strata based upon
the reason/use of the crops, i.e., for self-consumption or for revenue generation by selling the
produce into local as well as distant markets.
Commercial crop production: Cotton (BT & Traditional), Castor, maize, Red gram, Mustard.
Subsistence crop production: Vegetables, Wheat, Urad daal.

6.1. Crop Calendar:

The calendar itself shows the problem of irrigation water or the severity of water shortage faced
by the farmers. They took crops only after the monsoon and migrate to Gujarat with families
in summer to work as agricultural labourers in their farms. A few exceptions are there who
holds the irrigation facility and are barely being able to take crops in summers too.

7. RISKS FACED BY THE FARMERS

Risks faced by farmers are numerous and varied, and are specific to the country, climate, and
local agricultural production systems. Examples of such constraints are limited access to
finance, dislocation from markets, poor access to inputs, lack of advisory services and
information, and poor infrastructure (for example, irrigation or rural roads).
Having first become aware of a risk and then having assessed it, the next issue is how
the party (or parties) at risk can seek to manage that risk. It should first be noted that risk
management should be planned on an ex-ante basis (that is, before realization of an event).
By work of the Agricultural Risk Management Team (ARMT) at the World Bank, three clear
approaches to risk management are considered:
o

Mitigation is the lessening or limitation of the adverse impacts of hazards and related
disasters. Risk mitigation options are numerous and varied (for example, crop and
livestock diversification, income diversification, soil drainage, mulching, use of
resistant seeds, avoidance of risky practices, and crop calendars).
o Transfer refers to the transfer of the potential financial consequences of particular risks
from one party to another. While insurance is the best-known form of risk transfer, in
developing countries the use of informal risk transfer within families and communities
is extremely important.

o Coping refers to improving the resilience to withstand and manage events, through exante preparation and making use of informal and formal mechanisms in order to sustain
production and livelihoods following an event.
Although we have noted that coping is an ex-post activity, it is possible to plan and to prepare
for coping activities on an ex-ante basis. This is often fiscally beneficial, as the ability to
quickly respond to events often reduces losses.
A fourth approach is that of risk avoidance or risk prevention. However, this is rarely possible
in agricultural production, especially in developing countries where there are very few
alternative sources of nonfarm employment.
The risks faced by farmers are lucidly explained under each category as followed:

7.1. Weather / Climatic Risks:

The word in itself portrays a very large blanket meaning, so we are going to break it and take
each component individually.

Drought: The area falls under acute rainfall deficit shade, and frequent seasonal drought
is the thing that comes as flashes in the mind of people living in the region, when they
were asked anything related to summers. Due to the undulating topography, hills and
slopes, the sight of plain land is restricted to a very small farm land. The conditions are
so worse in summers that a person from households may have to travel kilometres upon
the rocky undulating terrain to fetch drinking water.
This made impossible to take up any crops in the summer as there would be no water
for irrigation. And also the water holding capacity of soil present in the region is not
good, so farmer cannot produce just by relying upon residual soil moisture. The annual
rainfall of the region is 350-475 mm, although a good rainfall is seen this year.

High temperature: high temperature coupled with acute water shortage in the region
made the living condition very hostile in the area, not just for animals and humans but
for plants also.
The peak temperature in summer reaches upto 49 degree celsius which greatly increases
evapotranspiration in the plants and causes desiccation of plant tissues. The greenery
after monsoon seems quite paradoxical, if one visits the area in summers.

Strong winds: Short-duration extreme weather events can cause devastating direct
damage to crops in the fields. Assessment of these damages can be undertaken
immediately by physical inspection. On the other hand, while the final outcome of
cumulative events can be devastatingly obvious, much of the damage already occurred
earlier during a stage of crop development. During our stay we had one such destructive
event in the region, a night of very strong winds with heavy rainfall took place, and the
aftermath was quite sore to the eyes. Destruction of crops and homes are seen
everywhere in the village. Approximately 30 % of crops has been destroyed in a night

and gone were the hopes and hard work of the farmers. The main cultivation in the area
was that of BT cotton seed production, and after this event almost 40-50 % cotton bolls
were destroyed. A terrified look was omnipresent over the faces of the farmers. And
they were already buckling up for yet another distressful year ahead.

Heavy rainfall: Rainfall being a boon also causes widespread damage if being showered
in excess. Heavy rainfall causes visibly damage to cotton production, ranging from
cotton boll destruction and hindering artificial pollination by washing away of mature
pollen grains to crop logging.

Bindoo Bhama Paragi, 37 years, Mandwal

Agriculture is the major occupation of Bindoos family. He owns 1 bigha of land and does
tenant farming on another bigha of land in village itself. He does the subsistence farming and
grows maize, tur daal, and sometimes cultivate cotton for revenue generation.
In 2009, because of heavy rainfall coupled with strong winds, he lost 90 % of his crops. He was
under huge debt and lost the mere hope of survival. He has to feed a family of 6 members and
with destroyed crops he has nowhere to look to.
It forced him to migrate along with his family to work as an agricultural labourer in large farms
of Patels in Gujarat. He lived in abysmal condition in Gujarat for 2 years earned enough and
later returned to village to continue his life. He says now that he had passed the gods test, he
would certainly be rewarded with good life in future, a hope his family also shares.

7.2. Crop Failure:

The incident of crop failure is too often seen in the area, which is predominantly attributed to
climate vagaries, pest and disease attack and market factors. Due to poor knowledge of
managing pest and diseases, farmers are complacent and does very little to manage disease and
pest in their fields. Although because of advent of contract farming in the area, majorly by
agents affiliated to some seed production company in Gujarat, they have come to know about
managing their pest and diseases in the cotton field. But the knowledge so far has been
restricted to the management of pest and diseases in cotton field only, while other fields are
left to their own fate.

PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENT
Pest & Disease

Poor Management

Lack of Technical Know-how

Weather Vagaries

12%

18%

45%

25%

Graph 4: Reasons for crop failure

The farmers think that weather risks are predominant factor in their crop failures and that too
exclusively blamed irrigation water. 25 % of respondent also agree upon that they have no clue
what to do in case of crop failure or how to mitigate any risk for that reason. They were
completely devoid of any official technical knowledge and had never heard of Kisan Call
Centre or gone to any Agriculture research station/ university to learn the updated agricultural
practices to be followed. 12% of respondent think that pest and disease are menace to their
fields, and rest are so much pre-occupied with other thoughts that they dont blame it to be the
cause of their crop failure. While 18% knew the fact that the age old practices of farm
management is not going to help them anymore and needed any assistance in this regard.

7.3. Market Risk:

Farmers are very much vulnerable to market risk in Mandwal. They had to travel atleast 28km
with their produce to reach the nearest market and they dont have the luxury to return back
without selling their produce. So in case of low market price (which they were unaware of until
they visit the market) they have to sell their produce at throwaway prices to the
wholesaler/retailer. Also because of high price fluctuations they are often under rewarded for
the labour they had put into the crop production.
Also the risk of dealing with unregistered agents (without any paperwork) is very high. The
farmers in the area are exclusively under the grip of agents of BT cotton of some unknown seed
production company in Gujarat. The agents provide all the inputs required for taking up the
cultivation of BT cotton (commercial seed production) and strictly monitor the crop growth
phases, as it is essential for seed production. And the farmers are bound to sell their produce
to this agents and the very reason of being illiterate they were often cheated by these agents.
There was this incident in 2011, in which some unknown agents ran away, taking away the
payment of 18 farmers from Mandwal village and the same number from the neighbouring
villages too.

As the financial cushion with farmers are too low and hence their life proclivity is towards the
timely payment, and in such circumstances they are forced to enter the vicious cycle of poverty.
Also the produce of farmers often get rejected on quality standards at the company, as the seed
production is very precise job, putting their life on line again and again. Last year payment of
30 farmers are forgone as their product don't pass the quality test at the procurement centre in
khedbrahma.
And also the whole cycle from sowing of crop to getting their payment from company on
passing of quality standard takes 1 year.
In the survey done the farmers fear most from the company rejecting their produce on quality
standards. And the rest result follows as such:

Respondents Fear to Market Risk

20%

5%
55%
20%

Quality Standard Failure

Agents

Price fluctuations

Late payment

Graph 5: Various market risks.

7.4. Financial Risk:

There is no registered / authorized money lenders in the area. Farmers are often challenged
because of financial constraints, and couldnt do many of the activities that required any
financial input. Many a times it comes over the matter of survival in case of any financial shock.
The only financial help they get is from relatives or local money lenders. And they have to pay
very heavily if loan is taken from any money lenders, they charge very high (as high as 120%
per annum) interest rate. In such cases it is difficult for loaned farmer to repay the principal
amount only, not to talk about the interest amount to be payed. Villagers still prefer taking
loans from money lenders as they find bank paper work very cumbersome and bank staffs not
very supportive. In addition villagers get payment flexibility based on social relation, in case
of any problem in repayment on time.

The farmers in the area on an average dont have any savings, reason being they dont earn
Much and they heavily spend on alcohol consumption.
The nearby banking facility is an ICICI bank in Mamer, which is 6km away from the village
and the villagers dont go there because the staffs are not very supportive in the branch.
Moreover villagers have very less faith in banking systems.
For bigger needs such as buying a tractor, constructing a house and education, they prefer banks
and other institutions. Village doesnt have a bank; other nearby branches were of Punjab
national bank and State bank of India and Marwad Sahkari Bank at Kotda. People can also
borrow money at a nominal rate of interest from Gram Vikas Kosh which is a kind of Informal
Financial Institution facilitated by Seva Mandir, NGO working for upliftment of tribal people,
provides short term loan from its Gram Vikas Kosh (GVK) but they also face huge challenges
in loan recovery.
The graph below give details as to why villagers dont avail banking facility. From mortgage
options (no collateral against loan) to illiteracy, confusion, etc.

R E A S O N F O R N O T AVA I L I N G B A N K I N G FA C I L I T Y
95

45

75

85

90

Response Percentage

DISTANT BRANCH

UNSUPPORTIVE
STAFF

LENGTHY PAPER
WORK

CONFUSING
PROCESS

Graph 6: Reason for not availing Banking Facility

NO MORTGAGE
OPTION

Sunna Vana Gamar , 52 years, Mandwal

Sunna was old enough to carry out the agriculture production himself, but unwillingly he has to
do farming, to feed his family of 2. He lives with his wife in a ransacked home in umra falan of
Mandwal.
Going by the tradition 4 sons of Sunna lives separately with their families and thus sunna has to
look after himself and his wife.
In 2006 his wife fall ill and he left no stone unturned in saving his wife. He visited almost every
government run hospital in the area around, but with no comforting results. Then the only option
available with Sunna was to knock the doors of expensive private doctors, and as expected he
was falling short of adequate funds. Thus he took loan from a local money-lender(name not
disclosed) who gave 10,000 cash and instantaneously deducted 1000 of it, as an interest of first
month, and finally sunna was left with 9000 rupees with an interest of 10% per month ( ~ 120 %
per annum).
Unfortunately he couldnt save his wife despite of all effort, and was left with heavy heart and a
loan which was burgeoning every month.
At last he lost all hope of returning the money because of low income generation. Then after a
paanch meeting his son and relatives were told to pay the principal amount with the interest.

7.5. Management/ Operational Risk:

Poor management decisions lacking awareness and concerned knowledge regarding any
such agricultural practices, farm management, resource mobilisation, financial
management, etc.
The forecast and planning errors lack of information reg. mass media, KVK, KCC. Since
there is no electricity in the village they were completely devoid of any such information
which could be useful for them in timing their agricultural operations or getting first hand
market information. Various government run programs like krishi darshan, are also quite
helpful for farmers, which is otherwise not aired in the area.
Also the use of outdated seeds( except BT cotton seeds) by farmers in Mandwal ( they save
a part of their yield to be used as input for next season) same seed over and over again,
reduces the productivity and seed vigour and subsequently fetch lower prices in the
market.
The flexibility or lack of preparation to change product, process, and markets affect
them directly as they dont have enough room for any contingencies.
Also inefficiency or inability to adapt to changes in cash and labour flows poses severe
seasonal demand threat. Farmers never heard or avail any insurance scheme hitherto.

8. CHALLENGES FACED BY FARMERS OF MANDWAL

There are serious concerns on the performance of agriculture sector in the country. The postreform growth was led by services. Commodity sector growth (agriculture & industry) has not
been higher in the post reform period as compared to that of 1980s. Particular worry is
agriculture sector which showed lower than 2% per annum in the decade of mid-1990s to mid2000s. There are also concerns on food security and livelihoods.
It may be noted that Indian agriculture is the home of small and marginal farmers
(80%). Therefore, the future of sustainable agriculture growth and food security in India
depends on the performance of small and marginal farmers.
The challenges faced by farmers in Mandwal are no less than that being faced by rest of the
pan India.

8.1. Irrigation:
We all know that Indian agriculture is dependent on monsoon, which is uncertain, unreliable
and erratic. This problem provides the need for proper irrigation system.
Especially in Mandwal which get frequent dry spells in summer making the irrigation
impossible for the farmers in the area. The problem of irrigation remains as such throughout
the year in majority of farm lands in Mandwal, while few enjoys the irrigation facility by bore
wells and that too in post-monsoon period.
There are 7 seasonal bore wells for irrigation of such a vast area, which barely meets the need
of the Mandwal. Only about 30-35% of farmers in Mandwal enjoys the luxury of irrigating
their fields and that too comes at a high cost.
And all the bore wells are dugged very close to the main road dividing the village, thus making
the irrigation impossible for the farmers residing in the inner parts of the villages. The reason
of such negligence is primarily attributed to the government officials who comes to dug new
bore wells, they were generally in too much hurry to get the job done and never took the effort
to dig according to the need of the farmers.
Majority of farmers in Mandwal grow crop based on moisture left over in the soil or depending
upon the monsoons. Especially the farmers living and having fields on higher topography never
dreamt of irrigating their fields. Though lift irrigation is present in few village (rajpura) 10-12
km far away and its presence in Mandwal is a dream they all share. As of now it is difficult
and economically unviable option without any external agency efforts.
Also digging of new bore wells is too costly because of rocks present underneath and low
water table. The region being rocky and mountainous had being boulders underneath and
require too much of dynamite to break them off, which turns out to be too costly. Government
had also put their deaf ears upon the problems of farmers in Mandwal.

Because of irrigation problem they hardly take up 2 crops for cultivation. They dont keep
cattles as feeding them is very much difficult in summers as there is no fodder left and also
shortage of water pose problem to their drinking requirements.
Had been provided with irrigation water the farmers in the area can took up 3 crops in an year
and also the productivity will shoot up. They can switch to some better yielding (in terms of
revenue) crops, which is otherwise not possible. This will have a direct impact on their standard
of living of farmers.
Performed a benefit cost analysis on 2 farmers owning an irrigated farm and non-irrigated farm
from the same region having similar land pieces of equal area, growing cotton traditional
variety. And was surprised to found a 15 % increment in the benefit of the one who was
growing cotton on an irrigated land.

Farmers availing Irrigation Facility

35%

65%

No Irrigation Facility

Irrigation Facility

Graph 7: Farmers availing Irrigation Facility

8.2. Small Land Holdings:

The abundance of net sown area in India is divided into economically non-viable small and
scattered land holdings. Our traditional inheritance laws are wholly responsible for the
division of agricultural area into small fragment. The land belongs to father is equally
distributed among his sons, and this process goes on like this. The distribution of land is not a
consolidate one, but its nature is fragmented. Different holdings will have different features
like its fertility, composition, texture and many other factors which determine the production
of crop in that particular area.
The land holding / family goes down steeply in Mandwal because of large family size, on an
average a family size in Mandwal is of 6, composed of 4 off-springs. And as they grow up the
land which the father had gets equally divided among them.

This is pushing farmers towards subsistence farming because as the generation goes by, the
farm land left with a farmers is too small to cultivate something for the commercial purposes.
So he has to do farming for the subsistence of himself and his family.
Which results in very low family income, thereby deteriorating their standard of living.
Based on the result of the respondents regarding their farm size, we found that the maximum
farmers in the Mandwal lies into marginal farmer category (86.67%). While the medium
farmers are 3.33%, with no large farmers. And also small farmers constitute a narrow range,
i.e., 15%.

Farmers Type
Land Holdings
Marginal
Up to 1 hectare
Small
1-2 Hectare
Medium
2-5 Hectare
Large
More than 5 Hectares
Table 1: Land Holding Specification (I.C.A.R)

Farm holdings

14%

3%
Marginal Farmers
Small farmers
Medium Farmers

83%

Source: Patwari, Panchayat samiti, Kotda.

Graph 8: Landholding of farmers in Mandwal

8.3. Undulating Topography:

The area is marked with hills, steep slopes and stretched undulating land masses thus making
the cultivation difficult on such terrain.
The farm lands at higher altitude remains aloof from the reach of irrigation water. As there is
no irrigation facility or watershed management programme going on in the area. There is one
anicut being developed by Seva Mandir under MGNREGA scheme for the water conservation.
Water percolates in the ground and helps in recharging ground water and thereby raising water
table, it is also used as potable water for domesticated animals in the area. But none of the
water from any source is used for irrigation of fields. While one well is located close to ladoo
ram pargis house, Seva Mandir volunteer, which is on lesser altitude, otherwise all other are
present on flat ground.
The sloped area also poses problem of water runoffs and subsequently taking away the fertile
soil along with the current, thus causing the fertile soil erosion.
Also the altitude and steep slopes makes the transportation difficult, thus stopping the quick
maneuvering, use of any such mechanized farm equipment, ferrying of inputs and outputs
from the field, etc.

8.4. Lack of Mechanization:

In spite of the advancement in agriculture, most of the farmers are using the conventional tools
for ploughing, sowing, irrigating, thinning and harvesting. Marginal and small farmers are
using much of the human labour, which results in the wastage of human labour and in low
yields per capita labour force.
In the name of mechanization, one tractor was present in the village, farmers still follow
traditionally old practices of cultivation. It was recently, 3 years back, that the farmers started
to follow line sowing method else were following the age old, broadcasting of seeds in their
fields. Approximately 7 years ago with the intervention of Seva Mandir, they incepted the
concept of bund formation, to prevent run off and keep soil fertility intact.

M A J O R T H R E AT S A S P E R C E I V E D BY FA R M E R S

20

48

55

85

95

% of respondents

IRRIGATION

AGENTS

CROP FAILURE

SMALL LAND
HOLDINGS

POOR GRADE
PRODUCE

Graph 9: Major threat to farmers of Mandwal responses.

The graph being represented as being perceived by farmers regarding threat/challenges to their
occupation.

9. COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS FOR BT COTTON

Considered cultivation area - 1 Bigha

Output
Seed (120 Kg @ 450 Rs/Kg)

54000

Fibre (40 Kg @ 45 Rs/Kg)

1800

Total Output

55800

Input
Cost of seed

900

Cost of Fertilizers

500

Cost of Pesticide

1500

Irrigation Expense

1000

Total Input

3900

Profit BT Cotton

51900

Profit in case of regular cotton

18000

Economic profit of BT cotton over regular Cotton *

19800

*Labour cost in BT cotton is approximately Rs.20000

* Ignoring the opportunity cost of using family labour.

10. CONCLUSION
During our stay in village we came across through life and activities of people, their custom,
culture and tradition. Village life is completely different from urban life. People are
homogenous in nature. They exhibit primary relationship. The migration rate is very high in
the village. Mostly migrate to enhance their capital base which is not so for poor people.
People have high degree of community feeling among themselves and so any caste
discrimination is hardly reported although several caste were there in the otherwise exclusive
tribal village, if occurs, it is solved on communal consensus basis. People are aware of their
voting rights and candidates for political institutions are selected based on their work and
activeness and not based on caste.
Main occupation of village is agriculture but low production and low farm income has
resulted in migration of people.
We would get an unanimous vote betting that agriculture itself is a risky livelihood and that
too the rain fed condition prevailing in the Mandwal makes it even more risky. But still
accepting it as only option available with the farmers of Mandwal efforts are needed to reduce
the risks and challenges being continuously faced by the farmers.
Although being aware of a risk is clearly important, before one can consider managing it, one
must actually assess the risk being considered. Risks (and their impacts) are assessed by
quantifying three main variables: hazard, vulnerability, and exposure.
Having first become aware of a risk and then having assessed it, the next issue is how
the party (or parties) at risk can seek to manage that risk. It should first be noted that risk
management should be planned on an ex-ante basis (that is, before realization of an event).
Weather strongly impacts the livelihoods of the farmers and often bring their life on stakes,
farm households and their communities are motivated to develop and improve strategies to
cope with and manage weather risks. Farmers and farming communities can employ risk
management strategies that include crop and labour (on and off farm) diversification, risk
pooling arrangements among several farmers by coming together and holding each other back,
sharecropping, investing in semi liquid assets such as livestock or buffer stocks, farmer selfhelp groups or such co-operative formation, and loans from banks. Government could make
investments to help farm households to manage weather risks. Governments can provide statesponsored lending and insurance services; infrastructure, including roads, electricity, and
water; educational services.
One way producers have traditionally managed price variability is by entering into pre harvest
agreements that set a specific price for future delivery. These arrangements are known as
forward contracts and allow producers to lock in a certain price, thus reducing risk, but also
foregoing the possibility of benefiting from positive price deviations. In specific markets, and
for specific products, these kinds of arrangements have evolved into futures contracts, traded
on regulated exchanges on the basis of specific trading rules and for specific standardized
products. This reduces some of the risks associated with forward contracting (for example,
default). A further evolution in hedging opportunities for farmers has been the development of
price options that represent a price guarantee that allows producers to benefit from a floor price

but also from the possibility of taking advantage of positive price changes. With price options,
agents pay a premium to purchase or supply seeds, fertilizers and continuous monitoring, as
was done by agents of BT cotton in the Mandwal village, a contract that gives them the right
(but not the obligation) to sell futures contracts at a specified price.
Also the risks of farmers arising due to agent running away with their money or procurement
centre rejecting their produce out rightly can be tackled with unity, i.e., formation of cooperative of BT cotton growers in the region.
This will give the farmers a bargaining chip and voice to negotiate the price in the market.
The problem of irrigation water in the region can only be solved if government ventures in or
by loan from big names such as ADB, NABARD, etc. Also the solution lies in forming a cooperative again, as this will reduce the initial cost of installing the bore wells by splitting it into
its members. Or the problem can be addressed by taking a part of the loan from the financial
institution or by GVK (managed by Seva Mandir) and venturing the rest of the cost by pooling
money among themselves.
Also the majority of problem arises because of the lack of unawareness among farmers which
could be eradicated, though not easily, by educating them or encouraging them to participate
in the various programs being run by agricultural institutes or KVK or by introducing them to
the KCC (kisan call centre) facility, to get the knowledge/information easily by calling 1800180-1551(free of cost).
Though, the farmers in the village have the feeling of mutual co-operation among them, but
there is dire need to exploit it in better sense and leverage the power of unity for the greater
good of society and ultimately contributing towards the prosperity of India.

ANNEXURE 1: QUESTIONNAIRE

Research Question: To understand the risks and challenges of agriculture of a given crop/
typical agricultural practices/ in the Mandwal village of Udaipur district.
Objective: To determine the viability of agriculture of a crop given the current risks and
challenges
Outcome to be discussed: Pattern/Relationships arrived at after analysing the data collected
and can they answer the viability aspect
Survey Questionnaire
1. Personal Details
Name of Family Head
Religion/Caste
No. of Adults in Family
No of Children in Family

2. Family Details
Family
member

Gender

Age

Education

Occupation
(agriculture,
non-farm, other)

Monthly
Income

Other

3. Agriculture Related Details

S.No. Crops

1.

Cotton (BT)

2.

Red Gram

3.

Cotton

4.

Wheat

5.

Castor

Area Under Production

Crops in last
(Quintal/acre)
season(acre)

Total
Net
Income Profit/loss
From
last
crop
season

6.

Maize

7.

Urad

8.

Mustard

9.

Vegetables

1) What is your average income from farming?

2) How much income you consume and how much you reinvest?
3) Is the income from livestock produce enough to run the house?

Backward linkage
4. Inputs for crops
FUNDING
a) Self -Funded only
b) Credit
c) Agents
If credit, please provide following details:
Repayment Period
Loan
Amount

Used for
(agri, non-agri)

Repayment
Amount

Interest
Rate

Monthly

Bank
Money
Lender
GVK
Friends/
Relative
Mortgag
e (if,any)
Others
Total

Expense on Inputs :
Cash
LandTax
Lease

Kind

PostHarvest

Annual

As per
conveni
ence

Preparation
Irrigation
From Canal
From Borewell
From Tanks
From Well
From Tanker

Seeds
Farm Machinery
Pestcide
Insecticide
Fertilizer
Livestock
Transportation
Storage
Packing
Processing
Marketing

Land
- Owned
- Leased/Rented
- Landless
- Work on others land.
If land owner / tenant
a) land size
b) cropped area
c) How much is left fallow
d) How much expense on land preparation?
e) How many labour days hired to prepare the land?
f) Crop rotation yes/noif yes, since when? If no, why?
g) Multi cropping .yes/no if yes, since when? If no, why?
h) quality of soil good/bad/average
i) Has soil quality degraded over past few years?
j) Has soil quality improved over past few years?

If rented/leased out, how much is the income in form of :

CashCrop
Other 5. Irrigation 1) How do you get water for your farm and how much it costs?
a) Rain fed b) bore wells
2) Costs involved in using water from below water sources Expense paid from pocket
Bore well

3) Sufficient water available for last kharif crop?

4) Sufficient water available for last rabi crop?
5) Aware of watershed project?

6) Have there been excess rain fall over past 3 years?

7) Has there been a drought here in recent past?
8) Have you been compensated for crop damaged due to rains/drought? How?

k) Seeds
Seed
Traditional/Hy
Name
brid

Source(market,coo Price
p,govt,saved from unit
last crop, others)

per Performa Performa

nce this nce
last
year
year

Do you
Seeds available on time?
Seeds available in sufficient quantity?
How has seed quality varied over past few years?
Pesticides, Insecticides, Fertilisers
Chemical/Biological

Who told Source(market,coop Crop

to use this? ,govt,saved from last For
crop, others)
which
used

Effectiveness
Price/La
(high, medium, nd Size
low, negative)

Pesticide
Name

Fertiliser
Name

Insectici
de Name

4)
5)
6)
7)

Are there any pest attacks on your crops?

Which crops are most vulnerable?
How do you control the pests?
To what extent do the pests damage the crop?

l) Livestock in Agriculture
Cattle
Numb Daily
Milk
Inco
er
Milk
consumed in me
Yield
house
from
Milk
Cow
Buffalo
Goat
Total

Labour

Income
from
any
other
product

Monthly
Expense
on health

Monthly
expense on
food

a. What are the works you do yourself on farm?

i. For which work do you employ labour?
b. What is the per day labour wage?
c. What is the MGNREGA wage?
d. How much labour wage was paid over last 2 years?
e. Are the labourers local or migrant?
f. Are the labourers involved in MGNREGA work also?
g. Is the labour availability a problem?
h. What was the labour availability situation earlier?
Post-Harvest
Harvest/Storage/Wastage/Value Addition
-

Do you know the right time to harvest the crop?

Has crop quality deteriorated due to early/delayed harvesting?
How many people harvest your crop?
Do you use harvesting instruments? If no why?
How have harvesting practices changed since your previous generation/past few years?
Is there lot of waste product during harvesting?
If yes, can that be reduced?
If no, does it have sale/reuse value?
Does it cost you to dispose of the waste? If yes, how much?

Are there any post-harvest losses? If yes, how does it affect the sale price?
How much of crop produce you consume/store and how much you sell in market?
If value addition possible at farm, what stops you from doing that?
-Lack of marketing -expensive machinery lack of knowledge

Marketing
- Do you need to market your product? Or its directly procured and paid for in the market?
- Is there a mandi nearby?
- Do the middle men pay you the right price?
- Do you get competitive research data for other products?
- Is marketing done alone, through agency, or independently?
- Do you think you receive a fair price on your products?
- Which are the markets you sell your products to
- - mandi - crop payment
- Does the government ensure minimum support price for your crops?
- Is MSP sufficient for you in case need arises for it?
- In case of a bumper crop, how much is the price variation in market?
- For how much does he sell the crop in the market?

i)

What made you choose this profession?

- Passed on to me from my fathers generation
- No other skills , so forced to do this
- Found this to be profitable
- A family elder advised me to do this
- A social worker advised me
ii)
Do you like the work you do?
If yes, Why
If No, Why

iii)

Since when are you involved in this profession?

iv)

What are the trouble free/problems for you this year-Drought

- Excess rain
-pest attack
-irregular monsoon
-unavailability of agro inputs
-lack of irrigation facilities
-lack of power supply
-lack of agro instruments
- Less price in market
- Others

v)
vi)
vii)
viii)
ix)

Which is the most critical problem?

Do others also face the same problem?
Please tell something more about the problem.
What you think will solve the problem?
Have you tried to contact the KVK?

x)
xi)

Are there any health problems common in this area?

Health Problems

Family
Member

xii)

Health Problem Expenses

When/Frequency

Insurance

Treatment
by

Does a health problem in family, cause financial crisis?

Other