Sheshrao Jadhav spends his day walking around his dairy farm and worrying about the sustenance of both his family and cattle. In just the past year, he has had to sell over 120 cattle from his dairy farm, all because he could not afford to feed them anymore as fodder rates continued to increase exponentially.
Left with 230 cattle on a farm that can house at least 500 animals, Jadhav is looking to sell a few more if the fodder shortage continues. His neighbors and fellow cattle owners are in the same tricky situation in Rahuri village of Ahmednagar district in the west Indian state of Maharashtra.
India is grappling with a severe fodder shortage, a crisis largely attributed to the escalating impacts of climate change. Erratic weather patterns, including prolonged droughts and intense heat waves, have significantly reduced fodder production across the country. This scarcity has led to skyrocketing prices, with fodder costs nearly tripling in some regions over the past two years. The shortage is further exacerbated by shrinking cultivation areas due to urbanization and the diversion of land for commercial crops.
About the author
Cheena Kapoorcheenakapoor
Cheena Kapoor is a Delhi-based independent journalist and photographer focusing on health, environmental, and social issues. Her work has been published by The Guardian, The Telegraph, Reuters, BBC, and Al Jazeera, among many others. Her long-term project "Forgotten daughters" about abandoned women in Indian mental asylums has been widely published and exhibited across Europe. Follow Cheena on Twitter and Instagram.
