Farmers are in serious trouble in Prakasam district, which witnessed drought for the fourth successive year in 46 of the 56 mandals.
Though sowing was done in 2.38 lakh hectares—which is 101% for kharif, thanks to 44% excess rainfall in June—the prolonged dry spell in the later phase of the Southwest Monsoon put paid to the hopes of farmers of getting decent returns, Joint Director of Agriculture J. Muralikrishna told The Hindu .
The loss to farmers during kharif was estimated at about ₹100 crore. As in the previous years, the farmers were forced to skip paddy cultivation in the Nagarjunasagar command area in the kharif due to meagre inflows into the reservoirs across the district.
44% deficit rainfall
As against the normal rainfall of 793.8 mm, the district received 444.5 mm, a deficit of 44%, said Assistant Director of Agriculture Ratna Prasad.
The crop coverage was worse in rabi when the district experienced 73.9% rainfall during the Northeast Monsoon period. As a result, the farmers could grow rain-fed crops only in 1.95 lakh hectares as against the normal extent of 3.20 lakh hectares, he said, adding that paddy cultivation was a poor 28% during rabi covering 16,864 hectares as against the normal extent of 59,523 hectares.
Tobacco growers hit
Tobacco growers are in an unenviable position as they could raise the commercial crop in about 10,000 hectares less than the registered crop area of 48,000 hectares, that too only after the Vardha-induced rains.
The production was likely to drop to 40-45 million kg as against the crop size of 82 million kg fixed by the Tobacco Board, the Indian Tobacco Association sources said. Tobacco Board officials decided to merge the two auction platforms in the worst-affected Podili region.
Ahead of the visit of a central team to assess the drought situation, Rythu Sangham district secretary M. Srinivasa Rao urged the officials to recommend liberal compensation. Providing water to cattle and saving the standing rabi crops would be a daunting task, feared its general secretary D. Gopinath.
