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Dry spell, soaring prices force farmers to go for pulses
Due to continuous dry spell and soaring prices of pulses, farmers in Telangana State are opting for increased cultivation of pulses like red gram, Bengal gram, green and black gram as an alternative to other food grains and oil seeds during the present Rabi season.
Hyderabad: Due to continuous dry spell and soaring prices of pulses, farmers in Telangana State are opting for increased cultivation of pulses like red gram, Bengal gram, green and black gram as an alternative to other food grains and oil seeds during the present Rabi season.
While the area under cultivation had gone up to 1.49 lakh acres as against 1,22 lakh acres last year, the yield may not touch the expected levels as the standing crops bore the brunt of pest diseases in many districts. Sowing area has increased in pulses cultivation by achieving 111 per cent of the target set by the government this season. Food grains and oil seeds could register only 50 to 60 percent sown area as farmers found food grain production not viable in view of the non availability of water resources, State Agriculture department officials said.
Sowing area for red gram has registered a 235 percent growth, the highest among other pulses as well as all food grain cultivation this season. The officials said the area under paddy cultivation had gone down by 2.23 lakh acres from the target of 6.45 lakh acres. The sown area for Bajra registered zero. Jowar and maize were cultivated in 55 percent of the total target area and wheat could be sown in 39 per cent of the irrigated area.
Oil seeds cultivation was also discouraging. Groundnut has been sown in 1.06 lakh acres as against 1.72 acres last year. Sunflower and safflower sown area also did not cross 60 per cent. However, sesame registered 100 per cent sown area of the set target by the department.
Though pulses cultivation increased significantly, officials said that yield might not increase at the expected levels as the crops suffered from diseases. In Khammam district, where pulse cultivation registered high, standing crops of red gram, green, Bengal and black gram were afflicted with pest diseases.
In the drought affected districts, crops dried up completely due to evaporation of moisture in the soil required to preserve crops till end. The officials said that farmers whose crops sustained in the season would get good prices for the yielding.
