Rain Deficit Hits Seema, Farmers Suffer Losses

Anantapur:Adverse climatic conditions with rain deficit and untimely heavy rainfall during peak season have badly hit the kharif season in Rayalaseema region. This is going to continue in the Rabi season also, causing panic among the farmers.

Farmers faced hardships in Kharif season, incurring heavy losses. A lack of minimum support prices for the horticulture produce added to their woes.

Reports say that poor rainfall during June and July badly affected the crops, mainly groundnut crop in many parts of the region. Groundnut, the major crop of Anantapur -- the top grower district in the country – recorded a sharp decline in the kharif season. Groundnut was cultivated in only 50 per cent of the normal area.

The district recorded only 28 rainy days as against the actual normal rainfall of 120 days. This caused the crop to wither during peak periods of sowings, flowering and the harvesting in kharif. Drought-like conditions have emerged leading to a situation of farmers incurring debts.

Normal crop extent is about 8.50 lakh acres including 4.50 acres of groundnut crop alone in Anantapur district. But, in the last kharif, about 2.25 lakh acres of groundnut was sown following adverse climatic conditions and rain deficit during peak days.

In view of the rain deficit in June and July months, and showers in August, many farmers sowed millet crops like jowar to at least get fodder for the animals.

Similarly, cotton and groundnut crops sown during June were badly damaged.

YSRC district president Ananta Venkatrami Reddy said seed shortages were a problem during the Rabi season. The reduction of subsidy on Bengal gram seeds from 40 to 25 per cent caused distress among farmers. Only 14,000 quintals of seed had been allotted this year, compared to 27,000 quintals last year. Prices in the open market continued to rise.

He stated that the government had failed in supplying quality seeds and fertilizers in time, and that no crop was receiving a remunerative price. Even after two Kharif and one Rabi seasons, farmers incurred heavy losses, he said and urged public representatives to take the farmers’ issues seriously and ensure immediate distribution of subsidized seeds within two to three days. The YSRC leader stressed the need for the government to release the pending input subsidies and insurance amounts to the farmers at the earliest.