Not withstanding the weak monsoon in Kodagu district, which is the catchment area for the river Cauvery, agricultural activities is on course with farmers taking to sowing and transplantation.
The sowing target for the current season is 30,000 hectares and paddy sowing and transplantation has already commenced and the area brought under sowing is close to target, according to Shabana M. Sheikh, Joint Director of Agriculture, Kodagu district.
She said the current rainfall pattern in the district may not be sufficient to fill up the major dams in the downstream region but was adequate for agriculture as far as Kodagu was concerned. In addition to 30,000 hectares coming under paddy about 2750 hectares of land is under maize, said Ms. Sheikh.
She said many of the farmers have prepared the nursery for paddy and the transplantation is expected to be completed in due course. ‘’If the district receives a couple of heavy spells that will suffice for the current crops,’’ said Shabana Sheikh. ‘’Paddy and other crops are cultivated in the lower regions and rains in the upper highlands flow down and benefit the standing crops in the lower region,’’ she added.
But, it is pertinent to note that conventional agriculture entailing paddy cultivation is taken up on a small scale in Kodagu compared to coffee which is the major crop in the district and cultivated in the highlands.
Meanwhile, the cumulative rainfall for Kodagu from June 1 to July 20 is 48 mm against a normal of 1102 mm and the deficit is 56 per cent, according to Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre.
Signs of monsoon revival
However, there were signs of moderate rains on Wednesday (July 19) and Thursday (July 20) though the monsoon has failed to gain vigour or traction.
Madikeri taluk received 32.18 mm of rainfall during the 24 hour period ending at 8.30 a.m. on Thursday, and the cumulative rainfall from January till date is 1518.21 mm against 2543 mm of rainfall the taluk received during the same period last year.
Virajpet taluk received 35.12 mm of rainfall and the cumulative rains from January is 700.46 mm against 1451.06 mm of rains received last year. Somwarpet received 60.53 mm of rainfall on Thursday and the cumulative rainfall since January is 740.64 mm while the taluk had received 1486.27 mm during the same period last year.
At the hobli levels, there was moderate rains across the region with Madikeri kasaba recording 38.60 mm, Bhagamandala (42.50 mm), Hudikeri (30.50 mm), Srimangala (102 mm), Shanivarsanthe (80.40 mm) and Shanthalli recording 154 mm of rainfall during the 24 hour period ending at 8.30 a.m. on Thursday.
