Farmers in erstwhile Warangal district seem to be a worried lot as rain continues to play truant. With the onset of early monsoon, farmers completed sowing, but the absence of rain subsequently has brought misery for them.
Of the total 75 mandals in the five districts — Warangal Urban, Warangal Rural, Mahabubabad, Bhupalpally and Jangaon — 53 recorded deficit rainfall while the rest registered average rainfall. Except for Bhupalpally district, which recorded only 2% additional rainfall, rest of the districts have not received sufficient showers. The percentage of deficit rainfall stands like this — Jangaon (29%), Warangal Rural (21%), Mahabubabad (11%) and Warangal Urban (6%).
Speaking to The Hindu , agricultural university principal scientist R. Uma Reddy said the situation is “not bad” yet, but if the rain continue to be delayed by another 15 days, plants will start wilting. “Presently, the problem is for those who have raised paddy nurseries and are ready to transplant. Unless there is rain, they cannot take up transplantation,” he explains.
In erstwhile Warangal district, there are 12 lakh acres of irrigable land. Out of that, cotton is grown on six lakh acres, paddy on four lakh acres and other crops on the rest. Farmers have completed sowing paddy, cotton, soya been, maize, red gram and turmeric.
Mr. Uma Reddy says it is high time that farmers adopt farm ponds and micro irrigation methods. “Farm ponds are a must in view of unpredictable rains. They can fill the ponds with rain water and wet their crops through gravity,” he points out. Micro irrigation techniques such as drip and sprinkler system, on the other hand, can prevent the plants from withering in case of delayed rains.
