Karimnagar district, which emerged as the rice bowl of Telangana, now faces a bleak future as the area under paddy cultivation has declined drastically, causing concern among farmers and others.
Severe drought condition, a depleting groundwater table and poor inflows into the irrigation projects are cited as reasons for diminishing area under paddy cultivation in the rabi season. Since 2006, Karimnagar began to find a place on the paddy cultivation map as it registered good production. The area of paddy cultivation increased from 1.38 lakh hectares to 2.98 lakh hectares.
But this rabi season, paddy cultivation came down drastically due to deficit rainfall and poor inflows into the major irrigation projects of SRSP and the Lower Manair Dam. In-charge Joint Director (agriculture) Shatru Naik told The Hindu that paddy cultivation came down to 90,850 hectares compared to 1.38 lakh hectares.
In the usual course, paddy cultivation would have been taken up in over 2 lakh hectares had the district received good rains. The agriculture official said that poor rainfall would certainly impact production. He said 40 per cent of the paddy produce was meant for producing seed, 20-25 per cent for sale while the remaining is consumed by farmers.
S. Komuraiah, a farmer from Chenjarla village of Manakondur mandal, said that he had cultivated paddy only in one acre of land for domestic use as the water in the well had depleted. He had to leave the remaining four acres idle. He said he was facing hurdles in watering the crop due to depletion of the groundwater table.
Annamaneni Sudhakar Rao, director of Karimnagar district rice millers association, said that the drought had cast its shadow on the rice mills as well with several of them having closed down in the district.
People who had purchased harvesters to eke out a living are also at the receiving end due to low production of paddy, he added.
