East Godavari farmers told to go for short duration paddy in rabi season

Irrigation water supply from the Godavari to be stopped from March 31

The East Godavari district authorities have advised the farmers to go for the four short duration paddy varieties for rabi season to deal with the shortage of irrigation water.

The advisory was issued after the authorities decided to stop supply of irrigation water from the Godavari river at Polavaram project site on March 31.

Action plan

The Polavaram project authorities have urged the district officials and farmers in the Godavari delta to prepare an action plan to manage with the shortage of irrigation water during rabi season.

The work of Polavaram project cofferdam will commence on March 31, with the aim of completing it by the June-end and the supply of the water from the Cofferdam would be stopped till then.

The decision was taken the irrigation advisory board meeting recently.

Direct sowing

In a release, East Godavari Collector D. Muralidhar Reddy has said that farmers in the eastern and central delta should prefer four paddy varieties —MTU 1121, RNR 15048 (Telangana Sannalu), RP Bio-226 (Improved Samba) and NLR-34449 (Nellore Sannalu) for rabi season. All these varieties are of 120 day duration.

“The shortage of irrigation water during rabi season can be managed by cultivating these four paddy varieties. Farmers should go for direct sowing to avoid the need of more water to raise nurseries. Those who go for direct sowing by December 10 can get timely irrigation water in the eastern and central delta,” said Mr. Muralidhar.

Special teams formed

Meanwhile, the district adminsitration has constitued special teams under the supervision of Joint Collectors G. Lakshmisha, Ch. Kirthi and Raja Kumari.

The officers will see that farmers go for the four paddy varieties and direct sowing method.