AURANGABAD: Farmers in Shendra who had ‘re-occupied’ their land that was acquired by the administration, are all set to reap the harvest.
Four months back, local farmers, led by social activist Medha Patkar, had ‘re-possessed’ land in the Shendra Five State Industrial Estate and had sown jowar on over 100 acres.
Hundreds of farmers led by Patkar had taken possession of about 35 hectare of land in Wadkha Nathnagar, close to the Shendra industrial estate, on July 23. They continue to occupy the land. Soon after the possession, the farmers sowed jowar on over 100 acres of land and are now expecting a bumper crop of about 1,500 quintals of jowar in the next couple of weeks.
With the current market rate of jowar being around Rs 2,000 per quintal, Shendra farmers are set to make anything between Rs 25-30 lakh.
Kalyan Dugale, who is leading the agitation, said, “Though the farmers could not pay proper attention to the sowing process and also failed to provide required fertilisers due to economic conditions, we are still expecting a bumper crop. It should be anything around 1,500 quintals. The water from the nearby percolation tank has come as a boon for us, which helped us in sustaining the crop.”
The farmers said that the amount earned by selling the crop would be used for repaying the loans the farmers had taken when they were landless.