Kharif crop as good as lost

• Sowing and planting in less than 10 % area due to scanty rains.
• Whatever sowed is also withering away
• 2002 drought handbook lists alternative crops if rains fail

As the rain gods play hide-n-seek, farmers have lost their direction. The country's agricultural output for this year appears to be under stress as large areas continue to receive below-normal rainfall. The lack of adequate rainfall is affecting the sowing and growing of Kharif crops like paddy, pulses, oilseeds and cotton.

The lifeline of Indian agriculture, the southwest monsoon, starts in June and its progress triggers sowing of Kharif crops. Farmers depend on monsoon rain as 55 per cent of agricultural land lack irrigation facilities.

Monsoon was weak so far with no traces of the situation getting better in August. Weak monsoon may reduce the Kharif output by 7 per cent or more. The government may be able to overcome the situation with huge food stocks. But for the farmers in Telangana this may prove to be another tragedy.

Sowing has not yet begun in most parts of both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Wherever it has, farmers are desperate for rain showers to protect their crops from withering away. Production of all the major crops like paddy, maize, groundnut and cotton has been hit, affecting the overall output.

The farmers in Telangana have been able to plant in only 14 per cent of the total of 40 lakh hectares under Kharif.

“About 8,000 hectares of area under maize in Mahabubnagar district are withering,” says Sampath Rao from the Agriculture department.

The situation in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh is no better. Farmers there have just transplanted in seven per cent of the 42 lakh hectares. By this time, transplantation should have been completed in at least 20 lakh hectares.

Telangana is the worst affected. The crops sown after the first few showers in early June are already damaged. With more than 50 per cent of the total cultivable land in Telangana requiring re-sowing, crop failure, mounting debt and a prolonged dry spell have already taken a toll on the farmers. Fourteen farmer suicides have been reported from the region in the last two months, one of whom succumbed to heart attack unable to bear the sight of his wilting crop.

Meanwhile, the 2002 drought handbook brought out by the Central Government is proving to be of great help to administrators in listing alternative crops that may be planted in case it fails to rain by August 15. The plan also lists crop varieties that may be used in the vulnerable regions during drought.

The information on drought relief and cultivation strategies is being disseminated through agro-advisories, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, the mass media and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research website.

According to the latest information from the agriculture department, against the normal rainfall of 361.2 mm till July 30, Telangana received only 192.8 mm, facing a shortfall of 47 per cent. A deficit of 20 to 59 per cent was reported in all the nine districts of the state except Hyderabad. Nizamabad, Adilabad and Medak recorded the highest rainfall deficit with 55 per cent. Paddy was sown only in 2.314 lakh hectares as against the seasonal normal of 10.04 lakh hectares.

“It is premature to project or predict how the Kharif crops production will turn out to be. But there are chances of the yield getting affected due to scanty rainfall and farmers opting for early maturing variety in crops such as soya bean,” said Sethuram, an advisor to edible oil traders.

“In pulses, it is unlikely that the lost area would be made up. But there are sufficient stocks, particularly imported consignments, that could come handy to check price rise,” said a source in the pulses trade.