Atmaram Tekale’s 1.5-acre soybean field in Dabhad village, Nanded’s Ardhapur taluka, looks lush from a distance, but a closer look reveals empty pods with no soybeans inside. Standing in his failed field, Tekale holds up the barren pods, his frustration evident after months of investment and waiting yielded nothing.
In a video that has since gone viral, Tekale throws down a challenge to the government: if anyone can find even a kilogram of soybean in his field, he’ll reward them with a quintal of cashews, adding that he’d crowdfund the money for dry fruits if needed, just to prove there isn’t a single grain to be found.
His message has resonated widely across drought-affected Marathwada, where farmers are tallying losses following a delayed monsoon, a mostly dry August, and weak rainfall in September.
Tekale’s cashew challenge carries a deliberate edge — it follows controversy around a September 19 drought review meeting attended by state agriculture minister Dattatraya Bharane and other officials, where the serving of dry fruits drew criticism.
For Tekale, though, the issue is far more immediate. In his video, he details how much he spent cultivating soybean this kharif season, only to be left with empty pods and virtually nothing to harvest or recoup his investment.
His frustration echoes a broader complaint among farmers in the region, that official visits, reviews, and assurances have done little to change the reality in their fields.
NCP spokesperson Vikas Lawande, who shared Tekale’s video, said it reflected farmers’ eroding trust in the government and its policies. He said farmers’ core grievance is that their concerns go unheard, and that no amount of assurances changes what’s actually happening on the ground. Lawande called for the chief minister to provide immediate financial aid of Rs 50,000 per hectare, rather than more promises.
Tekale also referenced a separate controversy involving Minister Bharane’s visit to Nanded on Saturday, alleging the minister had visited a farm belonging to a local liquor businessman rather than an actual drought-affected farmer.
The backlash comes despite the state government’s pledge of support. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on September 17 that the government would extend financial assistance to drought-hit farmers without waiting for National Disaster Response Fund relief to come through. He noted that NDRF-mandated surveys would begin October 5 as required to access central funds, but said the state wouldn’t wait until then to act.
For farmers like Tekale, the urgency is already visible on the ground. Marathwada’s kharif sowing area has shrunk by 3.6 lakh hectares compared to the five-year average, well below the region’s typical coverage of more than 46 lakh hectares. Farmers report that crops across large swaths of land have suffered due to poor rainfall conditions with Tekale’s empty soybean pods in Dabhad becoming a stark symbol of that broader crisis.
