As the area under paddy cultivation has increased to about 91,698 hectares this kharif season, paddy growers in the district are expected to reap rich yield of the crop in the impending harvest season.
The acreage under paddy cultivation in the last kharif season was 82,000 hectares.
The paddy output this kharif season may surpass last year’s production of a little over four lakh metric tonnes. The paddy production is estimated at 4.93 lakh metric tonnes this year, nearly 90,000 metric tonnes more than last year’s rice output in kharif season, sources in the Agriculture department said.
Khammam is considered as the key paddy producing district of the State.
As many as 16 of the total 21 mandals of the district are under the command area of the Nagarjunasagar Project (NSP) left canal system. Most parts of the remaining mandals are covered under the Bhakta Ramadasu Lift Irrigation Scheme (BRLIS).
Thanks to the conducive weather conditions and timely release of water from the NSP into the irrigation canals, the kharif paddy output this year is poised to increase substantially across the district, sources added.
Anticipating the high paddy output, the Civil Supplies department has drawn up plans to set up around 115 procurement centres in the district to buy paddy from farmers in a hassle-free manner at the agriculture market yards and various other places, including grain markets. The procurement centres are likely to become operational from the second week of November.
This year’s kharif paddy yield is expected to touch 4.93 lakh metric tonnes, said Jhansi Lakshmi Kumari, Joint Director of Agriculture, Khammam.
Apart from the favourable weather conditions coupled with the early release of water for irrigation, the successful adoption of dry converted wet rice cultivation method by many farmers in various mandals of the district have contributed to the increase of acreage under paddy, she told The Hindu .
Paddy growers of Sattupalli division embraced the method in a big way as an alternative to the conventional method of transplanted rice due to its multifarious advantages, she said.
Scores of farmers in Jal Shakti blocks of Khammam division too followed the method owing to a vigorous campaign by the field staff of the Agriculture department and scientists of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), as part of outreach activities under the overall supervision of Collector R.V. Karnan.
