Scientists advise rain-hit farmers to take up alternative crops

Crop damage attributed to poor surface drainage system and weak canal bunds

November 10, 2012 03:02 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 09:56 pm IST - VIJAYAWADA

Scientists of various research institutions speaking after visiting the damaged crops in the delta area, in Vijayawada on Friday. Photo: Ch. Vijaya Bhaskar

Scientists of various research institutions speaking after visiting the damaged crops in the delta area, in Vijayawada on Friday. Photo: Ch. Vijaya Bhaskar

A team of scientists from various agriculture research institutes, who inspected the inundated crops in the seven coastal districts, have advised the farmers to take up alternative crops within a month to offset the losses to some extent.

They said the crops were damaged extensively due to poor surface drainage system and weak canal bunds in the delta area and in Khammam and Warangal districts. Paddy, cotton, maize, chilli, tobacco, pulses, onion, and vegetable crops suffered maximum damage.

Following the requisition made by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) member M.V.S. Nagireddy, a team of six scientists headed by Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA) Director B. Venkateswarlu, Directorate of Rice Research B. Virakat Math, and Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) Joint Director O.M. Bambawale visited the districts in the State.

CRIDA principal scientist Y.G. Prasad told reporters that paddy crop was completely damaged in Tullur, Tadikonda, Mangalagiri, Prathipadu, Paruchur, Pedda Nandipadu, and Kakumanu mandals in Guntur and Prakasam districts.

Alternative crops

CICR scientist V. Chinna Babu Naik said cotton crop which had come to final picking stage got germinated on the plants. In many acres, cotton crop was damaged due to moisture and water logging for many days, he observed.

CRIDA senior scientist K. Venkateswara Rao advised farmers to sow bengal gram, maize, and vegetables within a month to recover from the losses. The three teams that visited the affected areas would submit a report to the Centre on the crop loss due to the calamity, he said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.