Sufficient amount of showers in the last several days in Yadgir district has helped standing crops such as cotton and red gram see improvement in growth.
Cotton and red gram growers were worried soon after sowing because of the shortage of rainfall. But, later, showers have helped these crops to grow. At present, both cotton and red gram are 30 days old.
According to sources in the Agriculture Department, the targeted area under cotton this year is 1.66 lakh hectares. Of this, 1.20 lakh hectares have come under the crop.
The targeted area for red gram was 96,000 hectares and the area covered so far is 78,000 hectares.
At the same time, showers have brought some difficulties to farmers. Those who took up sowing early now need to remove weeds in cotton and red gram crops. But, the continuous showers are not allowing them to take up such activities.
“We are unable to remove weeds due to continuous rain as we are waiting for some respite to commence cleaning activities,” a farmer in Wadagera said.
The district has received sufficient rainfall during July. It received 151 mm rainfall against a normal rainfall of 101 mm from July 1 till date.
“If it continues to rain for a couple of days more, crops will suffer a little damage as it will create excess moisture in the soil. Thus, there is the possibility of damage to standing crops,” the farmer added.