Siva has been cultivating paddy on hired soil for over 10 years, he reaped his profit every six months and enjoyed his work. Siva married Kavitha who inherited 4.5 acres of paddy land from her mother. Kavitha’s mother has been cultivating paddy since 1960 on the land until she had to stop due to the civil war before restarting in 2010.

Kavitha and Siva took over the land to cultivate paddy and sought a good profit in just one year. It was fertile land perfect for paddy cultivation and with Siva’s skills, he was able to reap a good harvest and a positive outcome for his family. In 2014, a sugar company approached him and advised him to cultivate sugar cane in his paddy land. Siva was not convinced that this was a good idea, and the idea of cultivating sugarcane did not appeal to him.

Siva became aware that the sugar company would use his land even without his permission through arbitrary means and felt compelled to agree in fear of losing their land to a forceful takeover. The company “facilitated” seeds, fertilizer and other things that are required to cultivate paddy, which Siva had to pay interest for out of his own pocket.

After one year of trying to make their new circumstances work, Siva realized that he could not do so. He also realized that the seedlings provided were substandard and that his land might not be best suited for sugar cane cultivation. Siva informed the Company and was told that if he is not able to manage that they will find someone else who can.

Shocked by this, Siva investigated with other sugarcane growers in his neighborhood to find that some of their lands had also been taken over by non-landowners for sugarcane cultivation despite the owners’ refusal. Afraid of losing his land as well, Siva once again planted the sugarcane in his land and this time, he lost even more money than the year before.

In an attempt to convince the Company that his land is not suitable for sugarcane cultivation, Siva tested the soil. Test results showed that the drainage and soil quality of the land was in fact not suitable for sugarcane cultivation. The company insisted that Siva continue to cultivate sugarcane despite scientific evidence against doing so.

Siva stood his ground this time, but as he feared the company employed another to tend to his land. Siva rushed to court and obtained an order prohibiting others from entry into his land without his permission. Upon the court’s verdict, the company responded by threatening Siva and warning him not to enter his land.

To date, the land has remained untouched by both the company and Siva or Kavitha.

Sugarcane cultivation forced Siva into debt. Kavitha has also pawned or sold her jewelry to sustain their living in the meantime. Siva has now taken up carpentry to support their lives and earn a daily wage. Their land is still abandoned, untouched and has dropped in value due to sugarcane cultivation. It took over 5 years for this innocent, hardworking family to settle the debt that they were forced into.