Marathwada Farmers Still Reeling From 2025 Monsoon Floods That Washed Away Fertile Soil

Dharashiv (Maharashtra): On the night of September 22, 2025, heavy rainfall and the subsequent flooding of the Bangaga river, which flows through the Dharashiv district of Maharashtra, caused havoc for farmers whose lands lie along the river. They not only lost their standing crops, but also a layer of fertile soil.

Sambhaji Parashuram Gore, 51, has a one-acre farm adjoining a small check dam on the river in Antargoan village of Paranda block. That night, he lost 13 fully grown fruit trees of sapota, lemon and mango; the floods uprooted them entirely. Standing crops of soybean, arhar and fodder for cattle, to be harvested soon, also washed away. As did two-three inches of fertile soil. The gushing water left large craters on his land.

Sambhaji Gore on his field. Photo: Varsha Torgalkar

“I lost my kharif crops – the losses came to around Rs 2 lakh, including input costs and potential income,” he told The Wire. After the flood, half of his one acre land was only rocks and no soil, he said, and he couldn’t sow fresh crops on it. He collected the soil that had accumulated on one corner of his land and tried to spread it across the other half acre, where he cultivated jowar. But “this crop looks yellowish, not green, and I can see it is not as healthy as it should be”.

While their orchards and cattle used to provide for the family, Gore and his wife now have to work as labourers on the farms of others to run the house.

The floods

The 2025 monsoon was harsh in Marathwada. According to the Revenue Department, there was 722.2 mm of rainfall over the season in the region – that’s 128% more than annual average of 679.5 mm. This caused rivers and dams to overflow, washing away two-three inches of soil for at least a kilometre on both sides of water bodies, farmers and local activists said.

All major rivers in Marathwada – the Sina, Bhima, Man, Terna, Manjra, Godavari and their tributaries – were flooded in the 2025 monsoon, government officials had said.

Vishwanath Todkar, an activist from Dharashiv who works with farmers through his organisation Paryay, told The Wire, “Silt accumulated in rivers and dams was not cleared for years, as there were never floods here before. Doors of dams and check dams were not functional due to non-usage, and did not work during the floods. Thus, water flowed with a heavy speed, damaging soil and crops on nearby farmland.”

Elders in the villages of Dharashiv said that they don’t remember such heavy rain and flooding in their lifetimes in this otherwise arid and drought-affected region.

Harshavardhan Shendkar on his farm. Photo: Varsha Torgalkar

In Shelgoan, on the banks of Khairi river in Dharashiv, farmers met the same fate. Harshavardhan Shendkar said, “Sugarcane – with roots and all – on 3.5 acres of land at the banks of the river washed away, causing me losses of approximately Rs 4.5 lakh, combining input costs and crop loss.”

‘Inadequate’ government compensation

During the 2025 monsoon, soil washed away from 30,912 square km across the state, including 3,951 square km in the Marathwada region, officials in the Maharashtra agriculture department told The Wire. Subsequently, the state government has announced compensation of Rs 47,000 per hectare for soil loss and Rs 3 lakh per hectare to fix soil through works under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

However, farmers believe that the government is offering compensation for a much smaller area than what was affected. Shendkar, for instance, was offered Rs 18,000 as compensation for damage on only one hectare (less than 2.5 acres) of his 3.5-acre land.

Biramal Mali, the sarpanch of Antargoan, told The Wire, “Farmers who have land along the river or dam lost soil from all their lands. But only 20 gunta [half an acre] of land belonging to each farmer who lost soil is eligible for government compensation. Like you see, Gore lost soil on his one acre, but got compensation of Rs 9,000 for 20 gunta, which is half an acre. As per a government survey, 91 farmers with 24.40 hectare land are eligible for the compensation. The village with 400 households have over 300 farmers and almost all of them lost soil to some extent. But only 91 are eligible.”

Todkar said, “Farmers lost their kharif crops due to intense rainfall and flooding. They also could not cultivate rabi crops as fertile soil was washed away. A few farmers have taken soil accumulated in one corner of the land to other parts and sowed crops. However, the quality and quantity of such crops will be poor, and they won’t fetch a good market price. So they lost the standing kharif and could not cultivate rabi. Summer crops are out of the question here due to water scarcity. If farmers don’t have means to earn throughout the year, how will they survive? Farm labourers also depend on these farms to get work.”

He added, “Government compensation of Rs 47,000 for soil loss and Rs 3lakh to fix the soil layer is inadequate. To add two-three inches of fertile soil requires minimum Rs 1-2 lakh or more, depending on distance from where the soil need to be brought.”

Where will the soil come from?

The cost of the new soil isn’t the only problem – it’s also sourcing it. Todkar told The Wire that the government has not issued guidelines on “where farmers can source soil from or how they can increase its productivity.”

The agriculture department did not provide The Wire with information on whether it has issued any such guidelines. Farmers and the village head said they have not heard about this from local agriculture officials either. In the absence of any such awareness campaigns, they are relying on YouTube videos for help on what to do.

Shendkar, whose sugarcane crop in Shelgaon was washed away, said his real challenge now is where to source fresh soil from. “Many farmers want to buy soil now. Besides, even if I get soil, I have to transport it from faraway villages, employing labour. It takes Rs 2-3 lakh per acre to source soil and put it on my land. We also need to treat the soil, mixing organic fertilisers like animal waste and crop residue. After two-three years, the soil becomes fertile again. Produce will be lower in both quantity and quality for that period – and so we will get paid less.”

Large ditches of this kind can be seen on farmlands around the river after the floods. Photo: Varsha Torgalkar

Since nearby areas too have been flood affected, farmers have been able to source only limited soil from close by. Instead, they depend on farmers from villages with water scarcity to buy soil from. Another way they have explored is to wait till April-May, when ponds, dams and river dry up and they can collect silted soil. But that is expensive – and costs vary depending on the distance from their farms.

Dr Sagar Jadhav has a doctorate in soil sciences and agricultural chemistry, and heads the farm-based livelihood section at BAIF.  According to him, “Silt at ponds, rivers and check dams is generally fertile and farmers need to source that. Farmers would not get good produce for first year [after soil replacement]. But they need to solarise soil with regular tilling, and cultivate legume-based crops like pulses that increases nitrogen content in soil to make it fertile. Besides, they need apply green manuring like vermi-compost to increase microbes and make soil nutrients.”

In Antargoan, Balasaheb and Ratnamala Lod lost crops on 3.5 acres of land, a sprinkler set worth Rs 35,000, a motor and soil in the flood. Their newly built well was covered in silt and uprooted trees. Ratnamala said, “We sourced soil from nearby and cultivated vegetables on one acre in the rabi season by taking loans from a bank. But the other area is barren now. We need more loans to get soil for the remaining land.” The compensation they received was only Rs 8,500.

Balasaheb and Ratnamala Lod on their land. Photo: Varsha Torgalkar

Their two daughters were living in a hostel in Dharashiv city, preparing for the police exams. But after this crisis, the Lods could no longer afford the rent – and the young women are now back in the village, helping their parents on the farm.

Soil erosion a recognised global problem

The loss of fertile soil due to flooding induced by climate change events is a major driver of economic damages and also non-economic, as per the UNFCCC. This involves permanent degradation of soil, loss of livelihood opportunities. That leads to erosion of cultural heritage and social cohesion.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, it takes over 1,000 years to make one cm of soil. Fertile soil forms the foundation of global food supply. “Soils do amazing things for us that we sometimes take for granted. They sustain food production, filter our water, are the source for our medicines and help us to combat and adapt to climate change,” the FAO notes.

In Marathwada, the struggles of soil erosion have become only too real after last year’s monsoon. Whether government policy will adapt to keep up with the climate change-induced crises – or farmers will be left to fend for themselves – remains to be seen.

Varsha Torgalkar is an independent journalist.

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