HYDERABAD:  As if growing debt traps among cotton farmers in the State was not enough, lack of safety standards in farming is so pervasive that several farmers suffer from lung ailments — fibrosis being the most common.

In a bid to address the difficulties faced by farmers, especially those in the largely unorganised sector of cotton farming that constitutes about 15 to 20 per cent in the country, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in collaboration with the Government of India and the State resource centre for elimination of child and adolescent labour of the Labour Department, held its first intervention programme. 

To take at look at Vikarabad, for instance, several farmers source seeds and pesticides from agents if MNCs. Owing to poor rains, the region was declared drought-affected recently. “Without realising the principal investment, the farmer is forced to take a loan from such agents, and in turn, putting them in a vicious debt trap. Isn’t this a form of bonded labour?” asked Sangameshwar, field coordinator of Kisan Mitra in Vikarabad region. 

Sangameshwar was one among the many who participated in the day-long workshop to promote fundamental principles and rights at work in the cotton supply chain. He argued that even the protection from the weather-based crop insurance scheme is largely being unrealised in the State. The workshop also aims to minimise incidence of child labour in cotton farming.