Thanks to the arrival of the early monsoons and bountiful rainfall during the month of June, agricultural operations have been intensified considerably for this kharif season.
Usually, kharif operations begin in the month of July in Karimnagar. However, agricultural operations were intensified in the month of June itself following the good rainfall. Against the normal rainfall of 153 mm in the month of June, the district received 208 mm rainfall boosting the morale of the farming community. In the month of July, the district receives normal rainfall of 283 mm. On Tuesday night alone, the district received heavy rainfall and recovered an average of 15 mm rainfall.
Buoyed over the rainfall, the agricultural department authorities said that the area of cultivation would increase considerably from 4.54 lakh hectares to 6.34 lakh hectares. The authorities said that paddy cultivation would be increased from 1.79 lakh hectares during the last kharif season to 1.97 lakh hectares in this season. Farmers have already planted paddy nurseries in 25,000 hectares in the district.
Cotton cultivation
The other major crop in Karimnagar district is cotton and its cultivation is likely to go up from 2.55 lakh hectares to 2.80 lakh hectares. Maize cultivation is also likely to increase from 54,702 hectares to 60,780 hectares. Authorities said that soyabean cultivation is also likely to increase in Karimnagar district. The cultivation of other irrigated dry (ID) crops such as red gram, green gram, castor etc. was also in full swing. So far, the farmers have sown their crops in around 2 lakh hectares and the authorities say that the sowing will be completed by this month’s end following the rains.
