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When Omkar Singh turned 16, he started farming. And now, at 42, he continues to do just that on a plot of land in east Delhi’s Shastri Nagar. Spread across one acre of land, the father of five grows spinach, basil, chillies, onions, and brinjals. Each month, he sells the produce in the local market for approximately Rs 20,000.
This year, however, a spell of unseasonal rains in April, meant bad news for Singh and other urban farmers.
“It is summer right now. It’s supposed to be hot… But remember, how hard it rained a few weeks ago? All our crops got destroyed. There was nothing left to sell in the market,” said Singh, as he pointed at a pile of rotting green-brown produce.
On 16 May – a month after Singh lost his crops to the rains – The Quint visited Shastri Nagar, and met urban farmers, who recounted tales of loss, the fear of sleeping hungry, and their worry about the future.
Omkar Singh's farm produce destroyed by unseasonal rains in April.
Omkar Singh's farm produce destroyed by unseasonal rains in April.
Omkar Singh's farm produce destroyed by unseasonal rains in April.
Omkar Singh's house.
In Delhi, March saw unusual amounts of rainfall and hailstorms, as the city recorded around 53.2 mm of rainfall in March across the month this year. That's three times the monthly average of 17.4 mm.
The persistent rainfall accompanied by high winds damaged crops across the western and northern parts of India, as per multiple reports put out by the IMD. It is pertinent to note that the rains arrived right after premature hot temperatures. This rapid change is especially damaging for crops such as wheat.
The Quint spoke to Anjal Prakash, Research Director at the Bharti Institute of Public Policy at the Indian School of Business, who said that “global warming messes with all seasons.”
He added, “When you want rain, the rain will not come. When you really don’t want it to come, it pours out of nowhere. This is exactly what’s happening in India. We saw this in February when there were early heat waves in Punjab and the entire northwest region, which impacted the production of wheat.”
Babul Rao, 60, who is employed at Singh’s farm in Shastri Nagar, has the same assessment, albeit anecdotal. “This happened in our village Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun in February this year. We sowed a lot of wheat. It grew quite a bit, and a few days before the harvest, the rains destroyed everything. We did not earn a single paisa from that batch, not a single paisa. It’s nature's fury,” he lamented.
And then there is 38-year-old Parameshwar, who too is employed at Singh’s farm. “My day starts at 5 am and I work till noon. Then I take a break till 4 pm because it’s just too hot to work… Unbearable. Then I work from 4 pm to 7 pm when it cools down a little bit. After that, it gets dark, and so I rest, eat, watch some videos on my phone, and go to bed by 11 pm,” said Parameshwaram, as he cleaned up a batch of basil.
All his hard work in March and April, however, went to waste when rains lashed out. “It felt bad that all this hard work was for nothing but what can I say? So many people have it worse,” he said. On being asked if he is willing to undertake odd jobs instead of farming, Parameshwar came a reply, “There aren’t a lot of jobs out there and where will I go if I quit? I like farming. It’s all I know… Of course, I wish I didn’t have to suffer this much due to these rains.”
Bhasker Tripathi, a senior journalist who writes on agriculture, climate, and rural India, said that while erratic weather is not a new phenomenon, the frequency and intensity of these events are changing rapidly due to climate change.
Tripathi said that there is no dearth of ideas but what’s lacking is political will. “A distressed agriculture sector in India could have a tragic ripple effect throughout the economy,” said Tripathi.
Meanwhile, The Quint also spoke to climate scientist Abinash Mohanty about the impact of climate change. He said, “You can't manage what you can’t measure and that holds true for climate risks. Climate change is altering seasonal patterns and pushing developmental trajectories beyond thresholds. The instances of incessant and erratic rain spells are a testament to how climate extremes are going to ravage the agricultural sector the most.”
Singh is still hopeful.
Onions growing in Omkar Singh's field.
Parameshwar working on a batch of grown onions.
Omkar Singh posing next to a lemon shrub on his plot.
“We have planted all the seeds again, and they are growing quickly. I have enough savings to deal with the April loss. If it doesn't rain badly this month, we should be able to make a decent profit. It’s all God’s will. Sometimes he blesses us, sometimes he doesn’t," he said with a smile.
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