Farmers across the state have started sowing crops taking advantage of the intermittent rains in some places and with the available water resources at their disposal. The total area sown has gone up from 24.47 lakh hectare as against 29.29 lakh hectare as of date, according to latest reports received from across the state by the agriculture department. The normal area sown in the kharif season is 80.29 lakh hectare.
Until a week back, the area sown was only 18.32 lakh hectare as against the normal of 22.13 lakh hectare. Agriculture officials are still confident of adequate rainfall in the next few days and will adopt the contingency plan of short duration crops and other measures only after July 15. “We will wait until July 15 and only then take a decision on implementing contingency plans, which are ready,” a senior agriculture official said. While rains continue to play truant, the situation in major reservoirs are alarming. All major reservoirs that supply water to the state including Almatti, Narayanpur, Ujjaini Dam, Jurala, Tungabhadra, Srisailam, Nagarjunasagar, Singur, Nizamsagar, Jaikwadi, Sriramsagar, Lower Manair Dam, Velugodu Balancing Reservoir, Somasila, Kandaleru, Yeleru together hold 273.72 tmc ft (46 per cent) as against the 503.96 tmc ft during the same time last year, according to irrigation department sources.
“Raising of paddy nurseries is in progress in all districts having borewells/canals. With the help of recent showers, the sowing of rain-fed crops is in progress,” the official disclosed. Sowing of rain-fed crops like jowar, maize, pulses, groundnut, sesame, sunflower, turmeric and cotton is paralysed in some places due to lack of sufficient rainfall.
Twelve districts have recorded sowing less than 25 per cent of the normal as of date in Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East and West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam, Kurnool, Anantapur, YSR Kadapa and Nalgonda due to the deficit in rainfall.