Thanks to heavy rains that took place last year, paddy cultivation in Medak district has considerably increased. Lift irrigation projects, desilting of lakes and check dams are also a reason for the increase in production of the crop .
The area under paddy transplantation has increased enormously due to increase in groundwater and adequate amount of rainfall received in the past five years. The actual rainfall received from 2017 to 2020 was 849.7 mm, 700 mm, 540.6 mm, 916.9 mm and 867.5 mm respectively. The good amount of rainfall received in the past five years has increased the groundwater level in Medak district.
“The piezometer depth readings reveal that water level has gone upwards as the district received good amount of rainfall in the years 2017, 2019 and 2020. The piezometer depth to groundwater level in the year 2020- 21 is 9.41 metres but in the year 2016-17 it was 12.45 metres. This clearly shows that desilting of tanks through Mission Kakatiya has shown positive effect on groundwater potential in the district,” said District Agriculture Officer (DAO) Ajmeera Parashuram Naik.
The total paddy area cultivated during Yasangi 2018-19 is 79,108 acres. The paddy area cultivated during Yasangi 2020-21 is 1.90 lakh acres which is twice the area cultivated in the year 2017-18. As per Irrigation department information, out of 15 checkdams proposed, 6 checkdams were completed and are under usage. Under Mission Kakatiya 1,855 tanks were desilted in four phases providing water to 1,04,602 acres. The Ghanpur canal has catchment area of 28,000 acres. The groundwater availability is at 9.41 metres this year which brought all the existing 62,136 borewells into operation ultimately providing irrigation to paddy fields.
“This is the first time in the district that we were able to achieve 1.90 lakh acres of paddy transplanted area in Yasangi season,” Mr Naik informed The Hindu .
