With the onset of monsoon getting delayed in some places and heavy rain lashing in some other areas, farmers in the northern districts of Karnataka, who have suffered two consecutive drought years, are still apprehensive about what lies ahead for them.
Farmers in Belagavi, Ballari, Dharwad, Gadag, and Haveri districts are yet to take up sowing. Most of them have prepared the farmlands but are waiting for good spells of rain to begin sowing.
In Vijayapura district, however, sowing is being taken up in a majority of the farmlands.
In Belagavi, while the targeted area is around 6.43 lakh hectares in 10 taluks, around 30,000 to 50,000 hectares of land in Khanapur and Belagavi — which is around 10% of the targeted area — has been cultivated so far.
Agricultural activities are yet to commence in Ballari district despite heavy rain on Tuesday night and Wednesday in three of the seven taluks. Showers during May in the western taluks of Kudligi, Hagaribommanahalli and Sandur resulted in farmers levelling land and applying manure.
Farmers, however, are waiting for another good spell of rain to begin sowing.
Sowing target in the district has been set at 3.55 lakh hectares, of which 2.09 lakh hectares is rainfed and 1.56 lakh hectares in irrigated land.
The situation in the districts of Haveri, Gadag and Dharwad is no different, with the farmers waiting for good showers after having levelled their land.
In Vijayapura, where around 70% of the district has received good rains, sowing has gained momentum. Traditionally, the sowing area during kharif is around 5.3 lakh hectares in the district and it has been revised to 5.6 lakh hectares this time.
