The long period of rainy days this monsoon has started worrying cotton farmers in Adilabad. The prolonged cloudy weather has already caused stunting of growth in cotton plants and another 10 days of similar conditions could spell doom for the entire crop.
Though the normal rainfall in Adilabad is about 110 cm during monsoon, the rainy days are usually spread over the four-month period under ideal conditions.
Increased rainy days
This year however, the average rainfall during the first two months has exceeded the normal for the corresponding period by 35 per cent as the additional number of rainy days was recorded in June and July.
The initial anxiety of the dry spell in June gave way to spells of good rainfall and June recorded 13 rainy days. The trend continued in July which had 23 rainy days, there being no proper sunny day.
Lack of photosynthesis due to the absence of sunlight and heavy weeding impeding the growth are the main reasons for the stunted plant growth.
“There is hardly any aeration in the root zone for the plant to grow,” pointed out Adilabad Assistant Agriculture Officer Asuri Ravinder as he talked of the phenomenon.
“Wherever the soils are uneven and the district has a large extent of it, the crop in the lower level of the fields is likely to suffer more due to water logging. Under these conditions, the leaf of the plant shows reddening which reduces the life of the plant,” he explained.
According to cotton farmer Narhari Vittal of Ichoda mandal headquarters, the plant had lost growth of about 6 inches due to the damp weather. “The plants need sunlight immediately otherwise the yield of cotton will decrease abnormally”, he opined.
“Yes, under these conditions, the plants go to their reproductive stage sooner than they would have done under normal conditions. The bolls formed under these conditions are smaller with much less cotton in them,” concurred Devtade Tulsiram, another cotton farmer from Bazarhatnoor mandal headquarters.
Added expenditure
Even if the clouds relent and make way for sunny weather, the farmers will be required to spend more on administering suitable fertilisers before the plant reaches flowering stage. This will increase their expenditure but will give a fillip to the plant growth, according to Mr. Ravinder.
