7 hours ago
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A survey of tenant farmers crossed Telangana has recovered their wide exclusion from important authorities cultivation enactment systems, raising concerns implicit the viability of cultivation for lakhs of farmers who lease onshore but deficiency ceremonial recognition.
The findings emerged from a 2026 survey conducted by the Kaulu Raitula Gurtimpu Sadhana Committee (Tenant Farmers’ Recognition Struggle Committee), which covered 1,816 tenant farmers crossed 57 villages successful 47 mandals spanning 22 districts. The survey recovered that tenant cultivators look large barriers successful accessing subsidised fertilizers, harvest procurement astatine Minimum Support Price (MSP), catastrophe alleviation and organization harvest loans.
According to the report, entree to subsidised urea has go progressively hard owed to a precocious introduced app-based strategy requiring landowners’ One-Time Password (OTP) verification. During the caller Rabi season, lone 412 of the 1,816 surveyed tenant farmers constituting astir 22.8 per cent could acquisition subsidised urea astatine the authoritative rate. Only 40 tenants managed to unafraid the fertilizer nether their ain names, portion others depended connected landowners’ identities.
Those incapable to entree the subsidy reportedly purchased urea from the unfastened marketplace astatine astir treble the subsidised price.
Tenant farmers besides reported large hurdles successful selling crops done authorities procurement systems. Platforms specified arsenic Kapas Kisan for cotton, Online Procurement Management System for paddy and Markfed procurement necessitate Pattas and Aadhaar linkage, oregon OTP-based support from the onshore owner, making it precise hard for tenant farmers to merchantability to authorities procurement agencies, the survey found.
As per the report, lone 6.7 per cent of cotton-growing tenant farmers sold nutrient straight to the Cotton Corporation of India successful their ain names. For paddy, lone 20 per cent of tenants successful Kharif-2025 and 17.2 per cent successful Rabi-2025 could entree procurement nether their ain identities. Many farmers reportedly resorted to selling crops nether different farmers’ names, aft paying hefty commissions. The nonstop tenant procurement for different crops by Markfed stands astatine conscionable 8.5 per cent.
The study besides highlighted terrible exclusion from catastrophe compensation and harvest loans. While implicit 85 per cent of surveyed farmers suffered harvest losses owed to floods, dense rains oregon hailstorms successful the past 3 years, lone 11 farmers received compensation successful their ain accounts. In respective cases, landowners received catastrophe compensation but did not widen it to tenants.
Tenant cultivators besides remained extracurricular ceremonial harvest indebtedness systems, forcing dependence connected backstage borrowing astatine involvement rates ranging betwixt 24 and 36 per cent.
Measures taken by the authorities to see tenant farmers successful procurement systems person been advertisement hoc and not implemented uniformly, the study noted.
Highlighting these issues, the committee has urged the Telangana authorities to instrumentality the 2011 Land Licensed Cultivators Act and formally recognise tenant farmers to guarantee nonstop entree to payment and cultivation enactment systems. It demanded a azygous strategy for each schemes and crops, with eligibility based connected the tenant cultivator cards.
