The cyclone came as a saviour to several farmers in drought-hit Ramanagaram and Mandya districts with the showers watering thousands of hectares of fields.
It was especially a blessing in disguise for farmers cultivating paddy and ragi crops.
Scanty rainfall had left the agricultural sector bereft, with paddy crops on at least 20,000 hectares in Mandya and around 4,000 hectares in Ramanagaram showing signs of withering. Ragi and other crops were also not faring well.
The welcome showers will help paddy crop, which is nearing the harvesting stage, while other crops too are set to benefit, G.R. Dinesh, Assistant Professor (Agronomy) in the Zonal Agricultural Research Station (ZARS) at V.C. Farm here, told The Hindu .
But on the flip side, the cyclone would have affect paddy that had already been harvested and stocked in fields, H.M. Atheek ur Rehaman, Subject Matter Specialist at V.C. Farm (Agronomy), said.
Farmers have cultivated ragi on 6.66 lakh hectares, paddy on 3,970 ha, maize on 1,760 ha, minor millets on 138 ha, pulses on 12,958 ha, and oil seeds on 4,887 ha in the district, according to B.R. Mamatha, Deputy Commissioner of Ramanagaram.
The officer said agricultural and horticultural crops worth Rs. 132 crore have been damaged due to drought in Ramanagaram district.
Thumbenahalli Shivakumar, a Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha leader in Ramanagaram, said the cyclone has also helped farmers, who sowed various crops on 90,349 hectares in Ramanagaram district.
