Arun Naik comes from a family of paddy farmers in Nerur village, Sindhudurg. While he no longer wishes to continue farming because of a lack of sustainable returns, he has worked hard to farm at least some portion of his land. But due to rains continuing even post-Diwali, he was unable to harvest his rice crop until November (generally, paddy crops are harvested in August-September). As he grazes his cattle, he tells me that the weather has become extremely unpredictable these days, and fears that the crop will rot in the fields if the rains do not stop.
Simit Bhagat is a social development practitioner and filmmaker based out of Mumbai.
