The toil and sweat of the Krishna farmers did not go waste in kharif 2018-19 as the weather helped them produce a record yield of an estimated 15.3 lakh metric tonnes of paddy. In the past decade, cyclones played spoilsport damaging the paddy fields.
Fortunately, cyclones Titli and Gaja, which recently hit the East Coast, spared the district, enabling the paddy farmers to bring the produce back home safely.
Supply from Godavari
“The kharif 2018-19 is said to be the lucky season for the farmers. The paddy crop has been advanced at least 30 days due to water parameters of the Godavari. The paddy produce has been estimated to touch 15.3 lakh metric tonnes in the present kharif,” Agriculture Department Joint Director T. Mohana Rao told The Hindu .
Since last year, the water was being supplied from the Godavari in the district through the Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Scheme. Timely supply of irrigation water also resulted in the increase of the sowing area from 2.37 lakh hectares in 2017-18 to 2.45 lakh hectares in 2018-19. Last year, the paddy production was 14.2 lakh metric tonnes. The district average yield was recorded 34 bags per acre; the maximum yield of 36 bags per acre in deltaic area and 34 in the coastal belt. “The consumption of pesticides has slightly been minimised due to the favourable weather,” added Mr. Mohana Rao. By November end, paddy had been harvested in more than 70,000 acres and the harvesting operations were likely to be completed by mid- December. As many as 260 paddy purchase centres had been set up across the Krishna district and 9 lakh gunny bags made available to speed up the paddy purchasing,” said Civil Supplies Department District Manager Ch. Ramanujanamma.
