Everything is here—seeds, fertilizers, and bullocks—but rain: Latur farmer waits for skies to open up

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Just days ago, a widely-circulated video of a farmer using his wife to pull a plough sparked national outrage and deep public sympathy. The footage prompted Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and the Latur district administration to step in, providing the family with a pair of bullocks, free seeds, and fertilizers.

Yet, despite this surge of support, the biggest hurdle to cultivation remains: the skies over Marathwada have failed to open up.“I have everything now, except rain. The sowing is still pending,” says Kashinath Gaikwad of Bombli Budruk village in Latur’s Devni tehsil. His brief remark encapsulates the mounting anxiety gripping thousands of farmers across Marathwada, where the monsoon remains elusive even as other parts of Maharashtra battle heavy rainfall.Gaikwad, who cultivates eight acres of leased farmland as a sharecropper, became the face of rural distress after visuals of him and his wife bearing the yoke went viral on social media. Following the govt’s intervention, officials first provided a bullock that proved unsuitable for farm work; it was quickly replaced to complete the pair. Gaikwad has fondly named his new bullocks “Raja” and “Somya.”While the support addressed his immediate lack of resources, Gaikwad now finds himself in a different kind of limbo.

Like many across the region, he is forced to watch the horizon, waiting for the moisture needed to begin the kharif season.His predicament reflects a larger, unfolding agrarian crisis. According to agriculture department data, sowing has been completed on only 24.55 lakh hectares—roughly 58% of the region’s cultivable area. At this time last year, farmers had already covered 42.42 lakh hectares. This year’s shortfall of nearly 17 lakh hectares has raised serious concerns regarding delayed crop establishment and diminished yields.While Marathwada’s cumulative rainfall deficit is officially pegged at 13%, the aggregate figure masks sharp regional disparities. Key rain-fed agricultural belts in Latur and Nanded have yet to receive enough rain to sustain seeds. Farmers report that isolated, short-lived showers have repeatedly teased them with hope, only to vanish before the soil could retain adequate moisture.This uncertainty is particularly devastating for Marathwada, where a vast majority of farmers depend entirely on rainfall rather than irrigation. Many have already prepared their land and stocked up on inputs, but they continue to postpone sowing for fear that a “dry spell” following the initial seeds could result in total crop failure and the need for a costly second sowing.For Gaikwad, the struggle has simply changed form. Until recently, he lacked the tools to work his land; today, he has the tools, but no water, and remains at the mercy of the monsoon.