Latur farmers cut standing sugarcane to feed cattle amid drought and fodder shortage

A drought gripping 74 percent of Maharashtra has dried out pastures and exhausted stored green fodder, pushing farmers in Latur district to cut down standing sugarcane for cattle feed. Narayan Gude, a cultivator from Kavha village who manages seven acres and a herd of seven buffaloes, two cows and several calves, says he must harvest roughly half a tonne of sugarcane each day to sustain his animals, while milk output has fallen to just 10-12 litres.

His soybean crop has also been hit, with expected yields dropping below half a quintal per acre, leading him to mix chopped sugarcane with soybean residue as feed. The Maharashtra government has declared drought across 265 of its 358 talukas and offered loan restructuring, land-revenue relief and power-bill subsidies, yet farmers are calling for immediate establishment of fodder camps. Livestock remains a crucial safety net for Marathwada growers, but one outlet crisis threatens both their primary agricultural income and supplemental dairy earnings.