The Godavari water has brought cheers to the paddy farmers in Krishna district. The water drawn from the river through Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Project had helped them to produce a bumper yield of estimated 13.8 lakh tonnes of produce in the kharif 2017-18, apart from bringing an additional area of above 22,000 hectares under the paddy cultivation across the district.
In the present kharif season, the paddy was sown in over 2.37 lakh hectares as against 2.15 lakh hectares in the previous kharif season, according to statistics of the Agriculture Department. The farmers, agriculture scientists and officials concerned have attributed speedy growth of paddy plant and reduction of crop duration for at least by one week to 10 days to the water parameters of the Godavari.
Speedy growth
“The farmers in the tail-end areas of Krishna district — Pedana, Krithivennu, Avanigadda and other mandals — have noticed the speedy growth of the paddy plants due to water released from the Pattiseema project,” said Agriculture Department Joint Director U. Narasimhulu. The Godavari water was found muddier than the Krishna water.
Early harvesting
The farmers in the tail-end areas are in a jubilant mood and began harvesting the paddy crop in mid November.
For farmers in Diviseema, Krithivennu, Machilipatnam and Pedana areas, the present kharif became the best season with bumper yield since the last five years.
“The average paddy yield of 32 bags (each 100 kg ) per acre has been recorded in the present kharif season (2017-18).
The maximum yield per acre is expected to touch 39-40 bags. The district’s total paddy yield in kharif is estimated above 13.8 lakh tonnes, which would be the highest yield since early 2000s,” Agriculture Department Assistant Director Manidhar told The Hindu .
The paddy harvesting is likely to be completed by December-end as against the kharif calendar, according to which harvesting normally completes by mid January.
