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A steady\nannual income and respite from weather-induced crop loss make farmers give their\nlands for vegetable cultivation, but unscientific application of fertilisers by\ngrowers make them the ultimate losers

Sikar,\nRajasthan: From the time they wake up from sleep till\nthey go to bed at the end of the day, they are on work in the farms taken on\nlease. They hardly know the villagers except for their leasers nor keep track of local developments.\nProbably, the only person they connect with is the shopkeeper who loans them\ngroceries. The farm owners are the guarantor in this arrangement, and the\nlessees later pay a lump sum.

The farm is\nwhere their hearth and home are. Most of them are labourers from Uttar Pradesh.\nEarlier, they had to wait for the season for work and wages, and had to\nmigrate from village to village. But now, they have a better option in the form of leasing. In Rajasthan’s Shekhawati region comprising parts of\nSikar, Jhunjhunu and Churu, a pucca\nhouse with an electric motor connection is present in almost every field.

The lessees stay on the leased plot itself. They take their family along, and mostly move to new plots or villages every two\nyears. The family builds an additional structure close to the pucca building, if need be. Most of the\nkitchen work is done in the open, while some make tents during the rainy\nseason. Children of such families do not go to school. They are engaged in\nfamily work on the farm itself.

Lease\nfarming not only gives labourers an opportunity to earn better, but also instils\na sense of ownership in them. “The goal of a lease farmer is to generate maximum\nproduction. Vegetables definitely give about three times the profit of grains,”\npoints out Santosh Singh (38), who is into\nlease farming in Jerthi village of Sikar district.

“Six\nquintals of wheat is what we get from one bigha,\nwhich translates to Rs 13,000 for the farmer. However, watermelon grown on the\nsame plot can be sold for Rs 5 per kg. On average, we can make Rs 40,000 from\na single crop,” he elaborates.

Earlier,\ncereal grains were cultivated twice a year in Jerthi. However, low profit and high\nseasonal risks proved a hurdle. “We take up vegetable cultivation thrice a\nyear. The water requirements for vegetables is equal to that of wheat, but the\neffort is definitely less. The whole family works to meet the labour\nrequirements,” says Santosh, who hails from Agra district in Uttar Pradesh and has been doing lease farming for the last eight years.

Not all vegetables\nare part of their scheme of things. Gourd, pumpkin and watermelon are preferred\nas they give yields quickly. The lessees first prepare the land by adding fertilisers and other mixtures. Mud walls are made, on which a drip\nirrigation system is laid. Tube wells are the main source of water here. Though\nthe water table has been depleting, drip irrigation has reduced its severity to\na big extent.

How does it matter?

Traditional crops such as wheat, gram, barley, mustard, millet and mung (green gram) are fading away. About 15 farms are on lease in Kolida village now, against the five plots two years ago. These numbers have been increasing with every passing year. The fields that\nonce remained empty in summers spot fresh, green vegetables. Before\nthe season of one vegetable ends, another is sown.

$\"\"$ A leased farm in Bidodi village where the watermelons are ripe and ready to go to the market (Photo - Sandeep Kumar Meel, 101Reporters)

Most of the lessors\ndo not prioritise farming as they have government\njobs, do small businesses or own shops. According\nto a 2017 report by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, only\n9.05% rural households in Rajasthan benefit from government jobs. Among the districts, Jhunjhunu has the highest number of such households at 22.29%,\nwhile Sikar stands second at 16.24%.

The lessees\nhave a free hand when it comes to cultivation. They are more inclined to use\nfertilisers and pesticides as their aim is to make the most out of the crop. Suraj Maurya (27) from Agra tells 101Reporters that about half of this entire income is spent in\npaying the owner and buying farm medicines. “For every bigha of land, medicines costing Rs 25,000 are required. We can make a profit only if our\nvegetables get very good prices in the market. We do well in the summers due\nto the wedding season,” he says.

Hailing from\nShahjahanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, Naseem's family has taken three farms on lease in Jogiyon Ka Bas village in\nSikar district. He has been into lease farming for the last four years, and now\ndelivers vegetables to Hisar in Haryana by hiring a pickup. “I spend Rs 60,000 on\nevery bigha of land and manage to\nmake up to Rs 1 lakh from it.”

Farms\nmeasuring less than 20 bighas are not\npopular among lessees as taking them will lead to losses. With the rise in\npopulation, the average holding has come down to 15 to 20 bighas in Sikar. According to the Economic\nReview of Rajasthan, 2022-23, the average holding size of the state is 3.05\nhectares (one hectare is equal to 3.95 bighas).\nIn Sikar, marginal farmers account for 67% of the landowners. They own 36% of\nthe total area.

According to\nRanglal of Kolida, on an average, one to two per cent of farms in the\nsurrounding villages is given on lease. Jerthi's farmer Nathu Singh adds that more\npeople are taking land on lease with each passing year, but the number of lessors\nhave not seen a big change. This has had an impact on the annual rental amount\ntoo. “Last year, Rs 4,000 to 5,000 was the lease amount per bigha. This year, it has jumped to Rs 6,000\nto 7,000,” he says.

The\nconstruction of a vegetable market in Nawalgarh and onion market in Rashidpura\nis believed to have contributed to the rise in demand for plots and the lease\namounts. The new markets have ensured trade of vegetables from here till\nHaryana and Delhi.

Weather\nvagaries have contributed immensely to lease farming. Mustard and gram were widely destroyed\nin frost this winter. Hail caused havoc at the time of crop ripening. Due to\nexcessive rainfall, several diseases have been affecting the roots of traditional\ncrops. Additionally, farmers are unsure about when to sow the crop due to the\nchange in weather. By giving land on lease, they also save on farm wages and\nploughing of fields.

$\"\"$ A leased field in Kolida village with a drip irrigation system. The vegetables sown here will be ready during the monsoon (Photo - Sandeep Kumar Meel, 101Reporters)

Two sides of the same coin

What is the\nimpact of lease farming on the land? Some think it has negative effects, while\nothers do not concur. Ajit Singh, Assistant Director, Agriculture Department,\nSikar, tells 101Reporters that\nexcessive use of pesticides destroys land fertility. However, the department had\nno data or study to show if that is the case in the district. It's worth noting the use of chemicals in the cultivation is particularly pervasive, not only during the growing season but also post-harvest.

Satpal Bhaskar, a teacher\nfrom Bidodi, attests that productivity has increased after he leased out his land\nfor two years. On this, Ajit says ample application of animal manure could\nhave cured the land of deficiencies.

Meanwhile,\nAmarjeet of Rashidpura claims the yield has been decreasing. “By the time the\nlease period ends, the farm is completely spoiled. Weeds swarm them as they are not ploughed, and farmers take at least two years to remove them fully. Once the land is\ngiven on lease, the farmer does not give it again because they have more work\nafterwards. A white layer gets frozen on the ground due\nto pesticide overuse and even grass does not grow there,” he says.

Tarachand, a\nfarmer from Kudan, asserts that the land given on lease can be identified easily.\n“The colour of the land here is light red, which turns completely white once it\nis on lease. Anyway, the problem of fluoride already exists in this area and it\nis increasing. The land has got so used to pesticides that no grain comes out\nof it without using chemical fertilisers,” he laments.

There has\nbeen a lot of bad publicity in the villages about the chemicals used on\nvegetables in lease farms. Locals do not buy from these farms. Ramprakash, a shopkeeper from Kolida,\nsays he buys vegetables for sale from Nawalgarh market.\nHowever, he does not answer the question that even in the market the vegetables\ngo from the leased fields only.

On the\noveruse of chemical fertilisers, Omprakash Mattoo, Deputy Director, Agriculture\nDepartment, Nagaur, tells 101Reporters\nthat agricultural scientists recommend the application of only a certain amount of\nchemical fertilisers to the land, based on research findings. “However, farmers\napply them at will, which harms both soil and human beings. This is happening\nthe most in the case of vegetables,” he says.

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The practice\nreduces soil fertility as chemical fertilisers are basically heavy metals,\nwhich reduce the amount of organic matter in the topsoil. “It can increase the temperature of the upper layer and also contribute to global warming,” Mattoo explains.

Edited by Rekha Pulinnoli

Cover photo - For representative purposes only (photo - ILRI/Stevie Mann, Flickr)

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