Rice is harvested at Mowgli Guesthouse in Hampi

Rice is harvested at Mowgli Guesthouse in Hampi

Hampi, India

While I've been in Hampi the rice fields have changed from green to golden.

At the Mowgli Guesthouse yesterday, the owner, Gopal, was having his rice harvested.

The machine harvester passed over several rows, and then stopped to unload into a cart pulled by a tractor.

Gopal harvested 300 sacks of rice from, what looked to me, a couple of acres of land. Each sack weights 75 kilograms. He told me he would get about six rupees per kilo, or about 120,000 rupees total. It took four months to grow the rice. Four months, and about $2,900 return.

Farmer suicide is a big problem in India. The farmers have debt and no way to repay it. They cannot compete with the low price of produce set by the international market.

Gopal was having his crop harvested by machine, which took about a day. The neighboring field would be harvested by hand, and would take about a week. Gopal's field was planted by hand, one bunch of seedlings at a time. Thirty-five women spent two days bending over to plant it.

Gopal lived solely as a farmer until about 1990. Then an Austrian studying agriculture stayed at his house to write and take photos. He invited friends over from Hampi, across the river. Gopal slowly added rooms to make a guesthouse. Now the road from the river crossing is lined with guesthouses. Of course, the income from the guesthouse dwarfs the farming income.

"The other side of the river" in Hampi is very pleasant. I have taken bicycle rides and in a matter of minutes seen rural South Indian village life. Back at the guesthouse I am spoiled as a traveller with Western food, service, movies, and the company of other travellers, for very little money.

Rice is harvested at Mowgli Guesthouse in Hampi