Adilabad tenant farmer ploughs down cabbage crop over low price

A tenant farmer, Sheikh Rafiq of Mannur village in Gudihathnoor mandal of Adilabad district, ploughed down his cabbage crop with a tractor after failing to get a remunerative price. He said he had leased two acres, and that the market rate of only Rs 3-4 per kg did not cover harvesting labour and transport costs. He put his investment at Rs 70,000 an acre and his loss at about Rs 1,50,000 an acre, besides lease of Rs 20,000 an acre. Last year the crop earned him Rs 1,50,000 profit an acre, he said, appealing for government support.

Written by AI from Adilabad — స్థానికం · not yet reviewed by an editor · Published 27 Sept 2026, 8:14 am IST

Source

Adilabad — స్థానికం · read the original report ↗

#tenant farmer#cabbage#crop loss#adilabad#farm prices

Desk check · compared with the source

What the desk checked (5)

Tenant farmer Sheikh Rafiq of Mannur village, Gudihathnoor mandal, ploughed down his cabbage crop on two leased acres. — Reported as fact by the source with named farmer and village; no official confirmation cited.
Cabbage was fetching only Rs 3-4 per kg at the market. — Figure appears in source, attributed to the farmer; no market committee data given.
Investment was about Rs 70,000 per acre and current loss about Rs 1,50,000 per acre. — Farmer's own estimate as stated in source; not independently documented.
Last year the same crop yielded profit of up to Rs 1,50,000 per acre after expenses. — Attributed to the farmer; no supporting records in source.
Lease payable is Rs 20,000 per acre. — Figure appears in source as stated by the farmer.

Written by AI from Adilabad — స్థానికం · not yet reviewed by an editor · How we use AI · Report an error

Analysts’ view opinion

AI Economic Analyst

This is not just one farmer's bad luck — it is a textbook case of the cobweb price cycle that recurs in vegetable markets. Last year's reported profit of ₹1,50,000 per acre appears to have pulled more acreage into cauliflower this season, and the resulting glut arriving at once helped push prices down to ₹3-4 a kilo (the story gives no acreage data). When the price does not even cover harvesting labour and transport, ploughing the crop under is a loss-minimising and economically rational act, however tragic it looks.

With about ₹70,000 investment plus ₹20,000 rent per acre, the fixed cost burden is heavy, and rent does not fall when prices do — so the entire downside sits on the tenant, not the landowner.
At ₹3-4 a kilo, if even the marginal costs of cutting and transporting do not come back, leaving or destroying the crop is the cheaper option — this is not an irrational outburst.
The stated plan to plant an alternative crop immediately to pay the rent shows how tight the debt cycle is: capital is gone, so recovery depends on borrowing again.
Vegetables typically lack the MSP or procurement backstop available for grains, and gaps in cold storage, processing and price-information systems make such crashes sharper.
The story does not say how far retail prices fell — if farm-gate prices collapse but retail does not fall proportionately, the question of where the margin sits in the chain becomes unavoidable.

What to watch — Watch whether more such cases surface in the district, whether the state responds with recognition of tenant farmers and any compensation or procurement support, and whether cauliflower acreage shrinks next season and prices rebound.

The figures come from one farmer's own account; the story does not establish district-wide acreage, official market price data, or any government response.

Deep dive

Research brief · 8 facts · 4 dates · exam-ready

The brief

Context

A tenant farmer in Mannur village of Gudihathnoor mandal, Adilabad district (Telangana), destroyed his standing cabbage (gobi) crop with a tractor because market prices had collapsed to Rs 3-4 a kg. Sheikh Rafiq had leased two acres and cultivated cabbage after earning a good profit from the same crop the previous year. With prices not even covering harvesting wages and transport charges, he said ploughing down the crop and shifting to an alternative crop was the only way to pay the landowner's lease. The episode highlights the price risk borne by vegetable growers and the added vulnerability of tenant cultivators who carry lease costs but usually lack land ownership.

Key facts

Sheikh Rafiq of Mannur village, Gudihathnoor mandal, Adilabad district, ploughed down his cabbage crop with a tractor after failing to get a remunerative price.
He had leased two acres of land to cultivate cabbage (gobi).
At the time of taking the produce to market, the rate was only Rs 3-4 per kg.
The price did not cover even harvesting labour costs and transport charges, he said.
His investment was about Rs 70,000 per acre; yield was below expectations and he did not get even a minimum support price.
Current loss is put at about Rs 1,50,000 per acre, plus a lease payment of Rs 20,000 per acre.
Last year the same cabbage crop fetched a good price and gave him a profit of about Rs 1,50,000 per acre after all expenses.
He said he removed the crop midway so he could sow an alternative crop and use that income to pay the lease on time.

Timeline

Last yearCabbage fetched a remunerative price; the farmer earned about Rs 1,50,000 profit per acre after expenses.
This seasonHe leased two acres and again sowed cabbage, investing about Rs 70,000 per acre, expecting similar returns.
At harvest/marketing stageMarket rate fell to Rs 3-4 per kg, below labour and transport costs; yield was also lower than expected.
Reported nowHe ploughed down the standing crop with a tractor, citing a loss of about Rs 1,50,000 per acre plus Rs 20,000 per acre lease, and sought government help.

Who has a stake

Sheikh Rafiq, tenant farmer, Mannur village — Lost investment of about Rs 70,000 per acre, faces about Rs 1,50,000 loss per acre and Rs 20,000 per acre lease dues, and mounting debt.
Tenant (kaulu) farmers generally — Bear crop price risk plus lease obligations; the farmer has asked the government to support cultivators in his position.
Landowner who leased out the two acres — Awaits timely lease payment of Rs 20,000 per acre; the farmer plans an alternative crop to raise that money.
Government — Asked to respond immediately with financial support for tenant farmers hit by price crashes.
Vegetable market/traders and consumers — Cabbage prices at Rs 3-4 per kg reflect a glut-linked price collapse at the farm gate.

Why it matters

Vegetables lie largely outside assured price support, so a sudden price crash can wipe out an entire season's investment, as the Rs 3-4 per kg cabbage rate did here. For tenant farmers the blow is doubled: they lose the crop investment and still owe lease rent, pushing them deeper into debt with little formal safety net. Such distress destruction of standing crops is a visible signal of unmanaged price volatility in horticulture.

UPSC angle

Prelims pointers

Incident location: Mannur village, Gudihathnoor mandal, Adilabad district (Telangana).
Crop involved: cabbage (locally 'gobi'); market rate reported at Rs 3-4 per kg.
Farmer's figures: investment Rs 70,000 per acre; loss about Rs 1,50,000 per acre; lease Rs 20,000 per acre.
Previous year's profit from the same crop: about Rs 1,50,000 per acre.
The farmer is a 'kaulu raitu' (tenant farmer) who leased two acres.
Farmer's demand: immediate government financial support for tenant farmers.

Mains framing

The Adilabad case shows how horticultural price volatility translates into farm distress. Cabbage, a perishable and quickly harvested vegetable, saw prices fall to Rs 3-4 a kg, below the cost of harvesting labour and transport, making it rational for the grower to plough down the crop rather than spend more on marketing it. The farmer's own figures capture the swing: a profit of about Rs 1,50,000 per acre last year drew him back to the crop, and a loss of about the same magnitude this year against an investment of Rs 70,000 per acre. Tenancy sharpens the shock, because the Rs 20,000 per acre lease is payable regardless of the harvest, and his stated reason for clearing the field early was to sow an alternative crop and earn enough to pay the landowner. The source does not detail any policy response, so the way forward can only be framed around what the story raises: the absence of an assured minimum price for the produce he grew, the need for the government support he has sought for tenant cultivators, and the risks of farmers repeating a crop purely on the strength of the previous year's price.

Key terms

Kaulu raitu (tenant farmer): A cultivator who farms land leased from an owner and pays rent, here Rs 20,000 per acre, while bearing the crop's full risk.
Gobi (cabbage): The perishable vegetable crop cultivated on two leased acres, which fetched only Rs 3-4 per kg in the market.
Minimum support price: An assured floor price; the farmer said he did not receive even a minimum support price for the little produce he got.
Distress ploughing down of crop: Destroying a standing, harvest-ready crop with a tractor when market prices do not cover harvesting and transport costs.
Gudihathnoor mandal: The administrative mandal in Adilabad district where Mannur village, the site of the incident, is located.

Practice questions

Why do perishable vegetable growers face sharper price shocks than cereal farmers, and what institutional mechanisms could cushion them? Illustrate with the Adilabad cabbage case.
Tenant farmers bear crop risk without owning land. Discuss the implications for credit, compensation and relief measures in Indian agriculture.
'Farmers repeating a crop on the basis of the previous year's prices is itself a source of distress.' Examine with reference to horticultural price cycles.

Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.

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