The bitter battle of sweet lime farmers Premium

Telangana’s Nalgonda district is grappling with a water crisis, prompting a crop holiday, leaving farmers without an income. Unregulated drilling of borewells has surged, aggravating the crisis. Despite recommendations for policy and research interventions, government action is slow, leaving sweet lime farmers in dire straits.

Over the past few weeks, Namireddy Srinivas Reddy has been contemplating severing the very lifeblood of his existence — his 12-acre sweet lime orchard that he has nurtured over 13 years. A dedicated farmer and an advocate by profession, this 45-year-old from Molka Patnam village in Telangana’s Nalgonda district owns 17 acres of agricultural land, five acres of which lie fallow in the face of an acute water shortage the region is reeling under.

“I was forced to dig 10 borewells this year alone, but found success with only four, yielding 1.5 inches of water each from three borewells at a depth of 300 feet, and 1 inch water from another borewell. I have also installed three motors to ensure the 975 trees of my orchard survive,” says Reddy, who has spent ₹3.35 lakh on the exercise.

Reddy’s predicament mirrors a broader crisis among HOW MANY sweet lime farmers across the erstwhile composite Nalgonda district, following a drought-like situation not witnessed in over a decade.

The Telangana government has announced a crop holiday for the ayacuts of the Nagarjunasagar Project (NSP) and the Alimineti Madhava Reddy Project (AMRP) canals. This is the first time such a measure has been taken since the formation of the State a decade ago. This decision comes in response to the water level in the NSP dropping to 517 feet, perilously close to the dead storage level of 510 feet. The decline in water levels is attributed to a rainfall deficit by xx% across the district, and the non-filling of irrigation tanks with Krishna river waters through the NSP right canal and AMRP canal.

Nalgonda, renowned for its borewells, is now witnessing a resurgence in drilling activity after a two-decade hiatus. In a bid to save their sweet lime orchards, many farmers are indiscriminately digging borewells, depleting groundwater levels further.

According to Telangana’s Agriculture department figures, during the winter Yasangi (Rabi) crop season, the cultivation area (paddy, citrus, and others crops) in the erstwhile Nalgonda district decreased to 6.03 lakh acres, a nearly 50% decline compared to the previous season. Of the total normal cultivation area of 10,16,637 acres, farmers cultivated in 6,03,730 acres, which accounts for 59.3%. This reduction was primarily due to a crop holiday declared for the ayacut of the left canal of the NSP, affecting 3.7 lakh acres of ayacut in Nalgonda and Suryapet districts.

Explaining his ordeal, Shaik Gaffar, 47, a farmer from Damaracherla mandal, says he is trying to save his nine-year-old orchard of sweet lime from withering as only two borewells of 16 borewells dug in the last nine years are yielding water now. “Many of us are borrowing water from paddy farmers during summer by paying ₹1 lakh per month for a borewell which yields one inch of water. My sole aim is to ensure the survival of my trees at any cost for the summer,” he says.