ANANTAPUR: Massive damage to groundnut crop due to seasonal vagaries is affecting the trading in Anantapur market throughout the year. The market has a total turnover of more than Rs2000 crore when there is a bumper yield from groundnut crop in the kharif season. The farmers plan their life for the entire year based on the groundnut yield.
The prolonged dry spells and untimely heavy rains hit the major crop for more than eight years out of the past 10 years.
Markets are badly suffering with poor turnover at all levels. Those dealing in gold, construction material, marriage-related items, essentials and even the casual garment trade face worse conditions when there is a crop failure, which is happening
Anantapur is the top groundnut growing district in the country and it supplies groundnut for both Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Only 47 per cent of the lands were cultivated during the present kharif season as against the cultivation over 6.71 lakh hectares every year. Other major crops also suffered massive damage due to deficit rainfall in August.
As a result, farmers are facing a grim situation with no money in hand. Farmers association leader Venkatrami Reddy from Hindupur area said the present situation was worse than those of the previous years.
“Despite technological and economic advancements, the condition of farmers continues to be unstable due to natural calamities and price fluctuations. Farmers are unable to attend to the needs of their families through the year and are forced by circumstances to depend on private lenders,” he said.
Balaji, cloth merchant from Madakasira, said his business came only from villages but farmers are unable to purchase clothes and are postponing weddings and other celebrations to next year due to a cash crunch.
The big farmers owning land in the range of around 40 acres in Jambalabanda in Gudibanda mandal have left half the land idle and raised crop over the other half by taking loans but, worse, the crop withered in the early stages due to problems of weather. “We have to postpone all our plans for the year due to this crop loss,” he said.
Though Anantapur stands at top slot in groundnut cultivation, several oil mills and decorticator mills have been shut down due to repeated crop failure. The scenario remains grim, overall.
