Khammam district (Telangana): Y. Govardhan, 36, is a troubled man. This year has been particularly rough for the farmer from Balpala village in Telangana’s Mahbubabad district. Apart from low chilli prices that drove him to losses, he is unhappy that his commission agent has been paying him through cheques for the last six months, making daily expenses hard to manage.
Not willing to wait till the cheque is deposited and cleared in his bank account, Govardhan has been mostly getting them issued on a third person’s name, who gives him the cash after charging 3% interest on the amount. “If I deposit it in my account, the bank will settle my loan of about Rs70,000. We need cash for everyday work,” the farmer said.
Last year’s high red chilli prices prompted many Telangana farmers, including Govardhan, to switch to it. But that resulted in a bumper harvest, pushing prices down from Rs10,000-12,000 last year to Rs3,000-5,000 this year. Read more
Not willing to wait till the cheque is deposited and cleared in his bank account, Govardhan has been mostly getting them issued on a third person’s name, who gives him the cash after charging 3% interest on the amount. “If I deposit it in my account, the bank will settle my loan of about Rs70,000. We need cash for everyday work,” the farmer said.
Last year’s high red chilli prices prompted many Telangana farmers, including Govardhan, to switch to it. But that resulted in a bumper harvest, pushing prices down from Rs10,000-12,000 last year to Rs3,000-5,000 this year. Read more