The farmers in the drought-prone Prakasam district are keeping their fingers crossed in view of the poor storage in the reservoirs across the Krishna river in Andhra Pradesh.
As a result, they could not grow crops in the ayacut coming under the Nagarjunasagar Right Bank canal even in the month of September. They will miss growing paddy and irrigated dry crops during kharif both under Darsi and Ongole branch canals of NRBC.
With poor inflows, the Krishna basin reservoirs in the State had a meagre storage of 285.69 tmc as against the total capacity of 575.57. The storage in the Nagarjunasagar reservoir, which irrigates the district, is only 158.7 tmc as against its full capacity of 312.05. The reservoir had no inflows on Saturday as also the Srisailam dam, according to a report released by the Water Resources Department.
The department officials wanted the farmers not to grow paddy this year and take up cultivation of only dry crops in the event of wet spells as water from the NSP would be released only to fill drinking water tanks.
Thanks to 42.7% excess rainfall till September 22, the crop coverage improved from 42% now from 22% of 5,36,442 acres till August, according to a report compiled by the Agriculture department. The rainfall deficit came down to 15% as on September 22 with a preciptation of 267.8 mm as against the normal rainfall of 315.3 mm. ‘‘The crop acreage can improve in winter if there are good rains during the northwest monsoon season as both kharif and rabi cropping seasons overlap in the district, Agriculture Joint Director S. Srinivasa Rao told The Hindu.
Standing crops
‘’However, the condition of the standing crops is not at all encouraging in the wake of a very large deficit of 70.9% in the district during August,’‘ Samyukta Kisan Morcha Prakasam district convener Ch. Ranga Rao said after touring the western parts of the district.
The district received only 26.8 mm rainfall last month as against the normal of 92 mm.
Red gram, the principal pulse crop grown in the district during kharif suffered a stunted growth. The pigeon pea coverage was only 39% of the normal extent of about 1,97,00 acres during this kharif due to poor precipitation in the first three months of the southwest monsoon season. So is the case with other crops including cotton, maize and green gram.
Enterprising farmers have taken up chilli cultivation with bore well water in the mandals of Markapur, Ardhaveedu, Pedaraveedu and Cumbum in 1/5th of the normal extent. ‘‘We are not at all satisfied with the growth of the spice crop in the absence of adequate rains,’‘ said a group of farmers in Gotipadia village near Markapur. The cultivation of spice crop has been taken up in less than 1/10th of the normal extent of 1 lakh acres in the Assembly constituencies of S.N. Padu, Darsi and Markapur, observed Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangam district secretary V. Hanuma Reddy. He wanted the State government to take up drought mitigation measures in the district immediately.
