Farmers pray for rains to stop

Crops in Prakasam district face risk of being damaged

On tenterhooks: Farm operations in full swing at Inkollu in Prakasam district.

Farmers in Prakasam district are praying for clear skies as heavy rains lashed the region on Friday.

A low pressure over east-central and adjoining south-east Bay of Bengal led to incessant rain across Ongole district since late Thursday, giving sleepless nights to farmers who cultivated crops in 2.13 lakh hectares during the Kharif cropping season.

The downpour left several colonies in Ongole inundated. Shopkeepers along the busy Gandhi Road swung into action to clear clogged drains as rainwater pooled on the road, even as weathermen predicted more rain for the next two days.

“We have raised, among other crops, cotton and chilli with high hopes during the Kharif cropping season. Now, we are keeping our fingers crossed as the standing crops may get damaged if the rains continue any further,” said farmers in Ammanabrolu village near N.G. Padu.

“We are hoping against hope for rains to abate,” said another group of farmers in Chekurapadu village who opted for replanting of tobacco crop.

The current wet spell helped reduce the rainfall deficit to 10.1% as the district received 616 mm rainfal as against the normal rainfall of 686 mm since June this year. The downpour is expected to aid sowing of winter crops including tobacco and bengal gram in over 3 lakh hectares, said Agriculture Joint Director P.V.Sriramamurthy. Farmers have so far sown Rabi crops in 22,400 hectares in the district.

Red gram has been grown in a maximum extent of 98,209 hectares (125% crop coverage), followed by cotton in 45,000 hectares (104%) and chilli in 27,462 hectares (94%) during Kharif. Paddy cultivation has been taken up in 20,183 hectares as against the normal acreage of 24,115 hectares as the Krishna was in spate in several spells.

The paddy crop coverage was 9,086 hectares during Rabi as against the normal extent of 36,360 hectares.

Singarayakonda registered the maximum rainfall of 35.6 mm followed by Pamur (31.6 mm), Jarugumalli (26.8 mm), Lingasamudram (25.6 mm), S.N. Padu (20.4 mm), Kothapatnam (18.6 mm) and Ongole (18.2 mm).