The Hindu Business Line : Scanty rainfall causes worry among farmers

With the monsoon playing truant and reservoirs showing steep fall in water levels, farmers in Andhra Pradesh fear that the prospects of their kharif crops would be severely hit this year.

Figures speak for themselves. The rainfall in the first three weeks of June, considered to be very crucial for the crop season, is 33.90 mm as against the normal 64.90 mm, a deficit of 48 per cent.

“The sowings of rainfed crops like jowar, maize, pulses, groundnut, sesamum, sunflower and cotton are slow in progress due to lack of sufficient rainfall,” an Agricultural Department official said.

East, West and Krishna districts, which consist of the rice bowl area of the State, were among the districts that recorded a deficit in the range of 66 to 99 per cent. The other districts in this bracket are Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, Nizamabad, Medak, Warangal, Karimnagar, Adilabad and Khammam.

The forecast of a revival in monsoon by June 20 turned out be a false hope with no signs of rain-bearing clouds on the horizon.

Water levels

The failure of monsoon resulted in poor levels in almost all major reservoirs in the State. As against storage levels of 282.38 tmc feet, Nagarjunasagar reservoir, one of the biggest reservoirs in the country, last year, held just 196.27 tmc feet, showing a severe deficit.

According to the latest figures available with the Irrigation Department, the situation is no different at Somasila, Kandaleru, Srisailam and Thungabhadra reservoirs.

Mr N. Raghuveera Reddy, Minister for Agriculture, however, said that he is hopeful of rains in the last week. Citing last year’s scenario, he points out that late rains saved the day for farmers last year.

Collectors’ meet

The issue of deficit rainfall is likely to come up at the two-day District Collectors’ meet scheduled for June 26 and 27. The Government will chalk out, if need be, a contingency plan, based on the feedback from the Collectors.

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