VIJAYAWADA: The groundnut farmers of Anantapur district, who expected a bumper yield in the Kharif with more rains, have suffered heavy losses. The crop yield was only 3-4 quintals per hectare as against the average yield of 11 quintals per hectare.Though they invested anywhere between Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 per hectare, earning from the crop was Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000. Even the harvested crop was reported to be of inferior quality and farmers blame it on excess rains.
“I have invested Rs 1.8 lakh for cultivating groundnut in four hectares of land and hoped for a better yield in view of good rains in the initial phase. Though the heavy rains are not good for groundnut crop, I thought losses would be manageable. But, unfortunately, the losses were more than 80 per cent. I could not even recover even 20 per cent of my investment,” deplored Punnapu Venataramudu, a farmer in Narpala village of the district.
In fact, Venkataramudu has taken loans to cultivate groundnut in more acres, expecting a bumper yield. “I spent Rs 120 per kg of seed and more for fertilisers, pesticides and labour. After the losses, I was afraid of going for the next crop. I can’t afford to take more loans and would not be in a position to repay if the crops fail again,” he said. Narrating a similar tale, Gowtham, another farmer from Nuthimadugu village of Kambaduru mandal in the district, said several farmers in the district cultivate groundnut in more areas than last year, expecting a good yield.
“With good rains, despite shortage of farmhands due to the Covid pandemic, we cultivated groundnut. However, we did not expect the rains to be this excess. Though the groundnut plants grew tall, the number of pods were not even 20 per cent of what they used to be. Our efforts went down the drain and we can go for the next crop only if the government extends a helping hand,” he said. Gowtham cultivated groundnut in two hectares and said he could not recoup even 20 per cent of his investment.
Compared to 3.64 lakh hectares during Kharif 2019, groundnut was cultivated in 4.64 lakh hectares in the district in Kharf 2020, which is almost 1 lakh hectares more. According to officials, who briefed the Central team, which visited the district to assess the crop damage due to heavy rains, a total 9,890 hectares have suffered damage. “But the most important factor was that there was less than 50 per cent of the normal yield. There was excessive vegetative growth and weeding due to excess rains during June and July. Instead of normal 30-35 pods per plant, only 4-5 pods per plant were formed. Kernel formation was weak and inferior,” explained Y Ramakrishna, joint director (agriculture) Anantapur district.
According to him, on an average, a hectare yields around 11 quintals of groundnut, but this Kharif, the yield came down to 3-4 quintals with inferior quality crop. During the Central team’s visit, Agriculture Commissioner H Arun Kumar, district collector Gandham Chandrudu and other officials explained this phenomena, so that the assessment is not just limited to direct crop damage, but also includes yield loss. Now, groundnut farmers hope that the State government makes a special exception to their case and lends a helping hand, beside paying the input subsidy.