KURNOOL: Forty acres of land, had it rained, would have yielded gold, but it was not to be the case. As there was scarce rainfall during Kharif, SK Siddarama, a middle-aged farmer in Santhakudulu, who owns those 40 acres of land, left half of it fallow and cultivated cotton in the rest.
But, the drought that had gripped the village in Adoni mandal for nearly one decade now, continued to cast its effect and there was not enough rain or water to save the crop. “I have invested nearly Rs 1.7 lakh on the crop, expecting Rs 5 to Rs 6 lakh income. But in just a few weeks, the crop withered for want of water and yet again I suffered loss,” he told TNIE.
Not losing heart and with a hope to recoup his loss, Siddarama sowed bengal gram in Rabi season in 20 acres and the second crop also withered due to lack of sufficient moisture in the soil. His losses have only accumulated further. “With interest, my debts have increased to Rs 10 lakh. I don’t know how to clear my debts. To cut my losses, I have decided not to raise crop in the ensuing Kharif,” he said.
Adoni is one of the worst drought affected mandals in Kurnool district. In Kharif 2018, 50 of the total 54 mandals in the district were declared drought-hit. In Rabi, the number of drought affected mandals was 33. The drought had not only hit the agriculture production, but also had a telling effect on the lives of farmers.
Boya Badai Ramudu alias LIC (nickname), who owns 10 acres of land in Santhakudulu village had migrated to Bengaluru. He lamented that even though he was the owner of 10 acres of land he was unable to celebrate Seemantham of his only daughter. He said all the family members, including his two sons and their wives migrated to Bengaluru in search of work and there was nobody in the house to take care of the family function. “Now, my pregnant daughter has no other option, but to deliver at her in-laws’ place,” he rued.
It is not just Siddarama and Ramudu, but most of the farmers in the village are facing a similar situation. Some were forced to sell their livestock to support the families during hard times. The village with 2,000 families, has less than half of them now as most of them migrated to other places like Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Guntur in search of livelihood. About 5,000 acres of land around the village, in which different crops used to be cultivated, now looks barren as most of the crops withered in both Kharif and Rabi.
The same situation prevails in most of the drought-affected mandals in the district. Due to continuous dry spell for the past 10 years, in most of the villages, groundwater table got depleted and borewells stopped yielding water.
Village and mandal level teams formed for enumeration of loss due to drought had recorded more than 60 per cent crop loss in 6.53 lakh hectares in 50 of the total 54 mandals in Kharif.
P Dastagiri of Bapanadoddi village in Krishnagiri Mandal said that he raised cotton, groundnut, red gram, onion and tomato crops in an extent of 15 acres, 10 acres his own and the other 5 acres taken on lease for `10,000 per acre. Cotton was raised in 6 acres, groundnut in 3 acres, tomato and onions in 4 acres and red gram in 2 acres by investing Rs 5 lakh on all the crops.
“In the initial stage, all the crops were fine, but in course of time, the crops slowly started withering due to water scarcity. Groundnut, cotton, tomato and onion needs a good amount of water at regular intervals,” he said.
To save his crop, K Ramanjaneyulu of Kothiralla in Pattikonda Mandal borrowed water from a borewell owner with a promise to pay some amount. He wanted water for 4-5 wettings to save his groundnut crop in 5 acres. However, with the depletion of groundwater, the borewell owner expressed his helplessness to supply water and Ramanjaneyulu crop withered.
“Now, I have a total debt burden of Rs 3 lakh. How am I supposed to clear the debts and how can I support my family,” he narrated his helplessness, with tears in his eyes. His sorry tale reflects the plight of most of the farmers in the drought-affected villages of Kurnool.
District Collector S Satyanarayana said that they submitted details of drought to the government. The Central team also visited the district to assess the drought. Crops in an extent of 5.17 lakh hectares, including 4,02 lakh hectares in Kharif and 1.15 lakh hectares in Rabi were damaged. The estimated crop loss in both Kharif and Rabi was Rs 649.41 crore,” he said and hoped that the government would release financial assistance to the drought affected farmers soon.
Bleak scenario
54 Total mandals
50 Drought hit mandals in Kharif (2018)
33 Drought hit mandals in Rabi
40.53 lakh
Total population as
per 2011 census
6 lakh Total farmers
4,75,458
Drought affected farmers in Kharif
1,36,201
Drought hit farmers
in Rabi
6.53 lakh hectares Crop acreage in Kharif
3.4 lakh hectares Crop acreage in Rabi
4,02,509
hectares Crop damage in Kharif
1,15,335 hectares Crop damage in Rabi