Farmers in Kolar district, which is facing drought for the last four years, are preparing their land for sowing.
A large number of farmers have ploughed their land expecting rain. However, the lull in monsoon activity is causing concern among them. Several parts of the district received rain in the first week of June raising the hopes of the farmers. But that didn’t last long.
The intermittent spells of rain have not been of much help for sowing.
Farmers are expecting that monsoon may revive towards the end of the month.
Although scanty rainfall has triggered apprehensions among the people that drought may continue, the authorities have allayed such fears.
Farmers took up ploughing in April and May last year in expectation of rain in June. That did not happen, and a similar situation is being seen this year too making farmers a worried lot.
Rain received till June 3 last year was 161.8 mm. This year, it was 159.4 mm. Though there was not much difference in the quantity of rainfall, farmers continue to suffer due to lack of water.
According to sources in the Agriculture Department, sowing has been completed only in 640 hectares of land in the district so far against the season target of 1.02 lakh hectares. However, it has been better than last year when sowing was taken up only in 225 hectares till June 15, they added.
Among the five taluks in the district, sowing is yet to happen in Srinivaspur taluk where the target is 18,009 hectares.
The target and actual sowing in other taluks is: Bangarpet 23,730 hectares (46 hectares), Kolar 19,200 hectares (185 hectares), Malur 16,350 hectares (185 hectares) and Mulbagal 22,713 hectares (224 hectares).
Sowing should have been take place in at least 10,000 hectares by now.
Unattractive
Venkatesh, a retired teacher and farmer from Mulbagal, who came to the Kannada Sahitya Sammelan in Mulbagal on Wednesday, told The Hindu that agriculture is losing attraction as an occupation due to lack of rain, among other reasons.
Seeds
The season requires 8,917 quintals of seeds and orders have been placed with the Karnataka State Seeds Corporation and the National Seeds Corporation, Joint Director of Agriculture Department C. Chikkanna said.
There was a stock of 2,954 quintals of seeds, he added.
