Delayed Monsoon Hits Telangana Kharif Season; Sowing Drops by 60%
Poor rainfall cuts sown area sharply as officials urge farmers to avoid paddy
Hyderabad: The slow setting in of the monsoon over the state, and the poor rainfall so far that as on Tuesday was deficient by minus-31 per cent, has already started showing its impact on agricultural operations for the just-started Kharif crop season.
“As on today, last year, around 25.30 lakh acres were sown with different crops in Telangana. This year, this number is just around 10.20 lakh acres,” an agriculture department official said on Tuesday.
The repeated messaging from the department appears to have worked, at least for now, with reports indicating that paddy nurseries or transplanting has been taken up in just around 10,000 acres so far. Compared to this, last year till June 22, farmers had planted paddy in nearly 60,000 acres.
Amidst poor and sporadic rainfall so far, data from the India Meteorological Department till June 23 from June 1 said Telangana received cumulative rainfall of 65.3 mm of rain against the 94.6 mm normal for this period. “Last year, the rains came in sustained spells after the monsoon set in. This year, the gap between the spells is more, there is less rain and the sowing so far reflects this,” the official said.
Of the area sown, around 42 per cent is cotton, with the popular paddy being discouraged as there is serious uncertainty over just how much water will be available in the days and weeks to come.
“Our message to farmers is do not go for paddy. If this crop has to be raised, then cut down the acreage by two-thirds so what water is available can sustain the crop. So if a farmer normally plants paddy in three acres, this year, it should be restricted to one,” the official said. “This too, only if there is assured irrigation. Surface irrigation is doubtful so the reliance will be on groundwater and whatever paddy is being planned by farmers, they should take into account how much they can rely on groundwater,” the official added.
Even as the agriculture department is pushing hard to inform farmers of the dangers because of the vagaries of the monsoon rains, it also started seed melas from Tuesday to encourage farmers to opt for short-duration varieties of different crops, which can be grown in rainfed soils, and are also drought resistant.
