As Vijayapura district failed to receive adequate rainfall in the kharif season, farmers are now looking to rabi cultivation to recover their losses. However, considering the deficient rainfall, uncertainty looms large even over the rabi season.
The Department of Agriculture has set a sowing target of 4.97 lakh hectares for the rabi season in the district this year.
Farmers are intensely hoping for some good showers which could help them earn some money by selling agriculture commodities.
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Seeds sown in the kharif season, though have germinated and the fields have become green, farmers say that crop growth is not up to the expectation owing to dearth of moisture in the soil.
Officials of the Agriculture Department said that if the district does not receive rain for another fortnight, then it will have a cascading effect on all crops.
The officials said that the district recorded 36 % deficient rainfall this year till September. In August, the district recorded 55 % deficient rainfall. While the average rainfall is 375 mm, the district received 240 mm rainfall.
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Relief measures
Amid this, while farmers are demanding that the government take immediate note of it and announce relief measures, the officials of Agriculture Department are saying that they have not received any notification from the government with regard to drought.
”If we receive any direction from the government to start a survey, the department will immediately launch it. Meanwhile, we are also hoping for some early rain which will increase agriculture productivity in the district,” the officials said and added that the department has stocked adequate quantity of seeds and fertilizers for the rabi season.