Low prices, crop loss hit Punjab, Haryana farmers hard in 2015

Punjab and Haryana farmers were left nursing their woes themselves in 2015, even as political parties remained engaged in a blame game amid large-scale damage to the crops including due to pest attacks.
Farmers in Punjab launched massive protests, including 'Rail Roko' agitation against the state government, while the ruling party Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) continued to present itself as a champion of the farmers' cause.
With the so-called 'pesticide scam' being blamed for the widespread cotton damage, a top officer in Punjab Agriculture department was arrested for his alleged involvement in the supply of "spurious" pesticides -- becoming a major cause of embarrassment for the SAD-BJP regime.

The opposition Congress however claimed that the arrested director was only a "sacrificial goat".
In the neighboring Haryana, opposition parties including Congress smelt a major 'paddy procurement scam' towards the end of this year and sought a high-level probe.
Untimely rains accompanied by hailstorm played havoc with wheat -- a major Rabi crop -- in February-March, raising fears of massive yield loss in both Punjab and Haryana.

With farmers facing heavy cross losses, Congress President Sonia Gandhi visited several areas including Rohtak, Jhajjar, Rewari and Karnal of Haryana in March and met wheat growers and pitched for adequate compensation from the BJP-led Haryana government in the state.

Punjab Assembly also passed a resolution seeking
implementation of Swaminathan Commission recommendations which call for 50 per cent profit over and above production cost.
In April, the farmers also complained of non-procurement of wheat crop because of high moisture content and shriveled grains, prompting Congress to allege 'step-motherly' treatment towards the farmers.
Demanding higher compensation and to protest against non-purchase of crop, the farmers led by Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan, Ekta) in Punjab disrupted rail services.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi visited the grain markets of Fatehgarh Sahib in Punjab in April and promised to raise their concerns at appropriate platforms.

He came back to Fatehgarh Sahib in June to console the family of a farmer who had allegedly committed suicide due to debt burden, even as SAD accused Rahul of playing politics over misery of the peasants.
During a visit here, RBI chief Raghuram Rajan also cautioned against taking farmer suicides "lightly" and stressed on the need to ensure formal financing channels.
In the case of onions, with prices going through the roof across the country, traders from Punjab imported commodity from Afghanistan through Attari-Wagaha land route in August.
Cotton growers in Punjab and Haryana suffered the most due to a deadly 'whitefly' pest attack that affected large tracts of fields, causing an estimated 40 per cent yield loss.

Congress put the blame on 'spurious' pesticides distributed by the Punjab government for the massive crop loss and demanded a CBI probe. Some experts however blamed the hot and humid weather as the main reason for the whitefly buildup.
Compounding the problems for the cotton growers of Punjab and Haryana, the cotton prices also remained low.
The prices of Basmati paddy also dipped considerably while opposition parties Congress alleged a scam there too.
Alleging a scandal in paddy procurement, Haryana Congress sought a probe by either the CBI or by a sitting High Court judge.