The ryots were reluctant to grow indigo for several reasons:
- The planters paid a very low price for indigo, so the ryots could barely recover their costs and make no profit, leaving them often in debt.
- Indigo cultivation was imposed on the most fertile parts of their land, which the ryots preferred to use to grow rice, their staple food.
- Indigo plants had deep roots and exhaust the soil rapidly, making the land unsuitable for growing rice or other crops afterward.
- The ryots were often busy with their own rice fields when the indigo planters needed them, creating a labor shortage.
- The system was oppressive, with loans given by planters trapping ryots in a cycle of debt.
- Due to the above reasons, thousands of ryots protested and refused to grow indigo, leading to eventual rebellion and the collapse of indigo cultivation in regions like Bengal. This protest was supported by local zamindars and village headmen, and the British government eventually intervened through the Indigo Commission, which recognized the planters' exploitative methods.
