Agricultural operations pick up

Tirupati: Field preparation and sowing for the Kharif crop has picked up in Chittoor district. As many as 30 mandals against 65 mandals in Chittoor district have received more than the average rainfall while 15 more mandals also experienced moderate rain though less than the monthly average in June triggering agriculture operation in the mandals.

Highlights:

• 30 mandals from the total of 65 mandals in the district received excess rainfall and 15 more mandals experienced moderate rain
• Groundnut sown in 33,000 hectares, says JDA

Interestingly, fifteen mandals in the arid western part of the district in Madanapalle division experienced more than the normal rainfall in June, leading farmers taking up the field preparation for groundnut crop sowing which is the main crop in the Kharif season in the rain fed areas in Chittoor district.

The Agriculture department on its part had already distributed 72,000 quintals of groundnut seed as against its target of 75,000 quintals and is expected to complete the distribution of the remaining ground nut seed at subsidy rate by this month end.

Last year, the department distributed 73,000 quintals of groundnut seeds meeting about 30 per cent of the seed requirement while the remaining is met by farmers themselves. In Kharif, the normal crop area of groundnut is about 2.13 lakh hectares in which 1.39 lakh hectares is groundnut crop mostly in Madanapalle division.

Talking to The Hans India, Joint Director of Agriculture (JDA) Vijaya Kumar said till last week sowing of groundnut was taken up in about 33,000 hectares while the field preparation for sowing is in full swing in many mandals. For the first time, biometric system was introduced this year for distribution of groundnut seeds to the farmers which helped the department prevent middlemen and ineligible people getting the seeds provided by government at 50 per cent subsidy which they sell it to the farmers at a higher rate which was fully curtailed this year.

Besides, the department distributed 60,000 kits containing five kg of seeds of four different dry crops including jowar, field bans, cow beans and red gram also for the first time to promote these crops of food grains as the demand for which is steeply increasing due to enhanced health consciousness.

These crops Jowar and red gram 2 kg each and cow pea and field pea half-a-kg each in the kit given to farmers to take up them as intercrop in groundnut crop in the Kharif season and also aims to increase over all food grains production, he explained. Gypsum to the tune of 6,000 tonnes were distributed to farmers at 50 per cent subsidy.

After the government orders, the mineral will now be provided free of cost to the farmers, he said while explaining the government initiatives to help the farmers taking up groundnut crop in Kharif. A farmer Srinivasulu Reddy of Kalikiri mandal said that rainfall was somewhat better in June this year compared to last year but it was not widespread in many mandals,

limiting the agriculture operations and hoped that the sowing will gather momentum if there is more rain in the coming days covering total cultivable area in the district.

By G Sridhar