Agricultural production is expected to be seriously affected this time as farmers in most parts of Kittur Karnataka and Kalyana Karnataka regions are reluctant to take up sowing due to scanty rainfall and poor storage levels in the reservoirs.
In Yadgir district, only 2% of the sowing target has been met so far while in Kalaburagi district sowing has been completed only on 1,41,988 hectares or 16% of the target, which is 8,87,014 hectares, for the kharif season. In Chincholi taluk, sowing has been completed on 53,360 hectares, accounting for 60% of the target followed by Sedam with 49% sowing.
But some of the worst-case scenarios are in Kalaburagi taluk, where sowing has been completed on 1% of the target area, Chittapur taluk (2%), and in Kalagi and Shahabad taluks (3%).
The poor storage in the Tungabhadra reservoir near Hosapete in Vijayanagara district is a cause of worry for the farmers of Koppal, Raichur, Ballari, and Vijayanagara districts as they are dependent on the water from the reservoir. On Saturday (July 1), the storage was 3.092 tmcft of water as against its total capacity of 105.788 tmcft. The average inflow in the last 24 hours was at the rate of 134 cusecs.
Paddy cultivation on nearly 6 lakh acres of land along the Tungabhadra Left Bank Canal in Koppal and Raichur districts hinges on water release which is unlikely.
The water storage in Basavasagar reservoir at Narayanapur in Hunsagi taluk of Yadgir district stood at 486.94 metres as against the full reservoir level (FRL) of 492.25 metres on Saturday. The inflow to the reservoir was nil while the outflow was at the rate of 50 cusecs. Last year on the same day, the water level stood at 491.01 m. The inflow was at the rate of 227 cusecs and the outflow 84 cusecs. The low storage and deficient rainfall have resulted in the district recording just 2% sowing.
The situation is not much encouraging in the districts of Kittur Karnataka region either where sowing has not been taken up by most of the farmers. The water storage in the Almatti resevoir was 1.822 tmcft as against the gross capacity of 19.442 tmcft on Saturday. The inflow was nil and the outflow was pegged at the rate of 590 cusecs. The present reservoir level is 507.44 m as against the maximum level of 519.6 m.
The rainfall deficiency in Dharwad district was 69% in June and as against the kharif target of 2.57 lakh hectares, sowing has been completed on 42,003 hectares, accounting for only 16% of the target. The situation in the districts of Haveri and Gadag is almost similar. In view of scanty rain and poor storage in the reservoirs, farmers may opt for crops that are less water-intensive.
(With inputs from Kumar Buradikatti, Praveen B. Para, Ravikumar Naraboli, and Rishikesh Bahadur Desai)
