Elderly farmer pulls plough in Latur with wife's help, can't afford to rent oxen
Ambadas Pawar, a 75-year-old of Hadoalti village in the drought-prone Marathwada region, started sowing for the cotton crop recently. "The daily rent for a pair of oxen, for kharif farm work, is Rs 2,500 at present. I had to take a loan of Rs 20,000 for kharif sowing in addition to an earlier loan of Rs 40,000 for agricultural needs. Now, I have no money left for the rented oxen. I have no choice but to pull the plough," he said.
Pawar added that multiple extreme weather events in his area severely affected his agricultural produce and caused heavy losses. "We also did not get the expected market prices for our agricultural yield. Even if I am out of money, I cannot give up on cotton cultivation this kharif season," he added.
Muktabai said she feels pained to see her husband working hard at his age. "We solely depend on agriculture to make ends meet.
We are getting burdened due to the loans. There is no one to pay heed to our woes," she said.
A video of the septuagenarian farmer pulling the traditional wooden plough, with his wife, Muktabai, guiding him from behind, left many heartbroken. The couple's son, who is in his 40s, completed his ITI course and is currently employed with a private firm in Pune in a low-paid job. His wife and two young children stay in the village with Ambadas and Muktabai.
Latur district is experiencing a 40% rainfall deficiency this monsoon. The rainfall gap has resulted in weed growth in farms, forcing farmers to put in extra efforts to remove weeds from their farms.
After Ambadas's video got circulated widely, state agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate spoke to the elderly farmer and assured him of govt help. Kokate told reporters, "I have instructed the local agriculture department officer to contact Ambadas Pawar and offer all possible assistance to the couple."
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