North Karnataka has seen heavy rainfall, but the monsoon appears to have weakened in Talacauvery and Bhagamandala, the catchment area of the Cauvery river. Both places were flooded last year due to heavy rainfall. But against 110 mm last year, Bhagamandala has, so far, got only 82 mm, as on June 1. There is cloudy weather and mist at Talacauvery, but no rain.
Bhagamandala resident K J Bharath told Express: “The rains usually begin by May 15 and every year, by June 10, the Cauvery goes into flood. But this year, perhaps due to a change in the weather pattern and increased degradation of forests, it has not rained much at all.”
At the temple in Bhagamandala, tourists from Tamil Nadu as well as Karnataka are praying for good rainfall and water for both states. Though the weather forecast indicates average rainfall from June first week onwards, there is only a drizzle in the region.
With monsoon yet to set in, agriculture officers, researchers and scientists in Mysore district are working hard to instil confidence among farming community to carry out agriculture activities. Preparing a contingency plan, they have listed out for sowing drought resistant varieties of ragi, pulses and jowar seeds.
The farmers, who were hit by drought during two successive years and lost their kharif crop, have cautiously taken up sowing activities following rains last week. About 1.73 hectares have been sown with ragi,jowar and groundnut, against the total semi dry land cultivation area of 3.19 lakh hectares.
However, no farming activity has been witnessed in the regions irrigated by the Visvesvaraya canal. The rainfall in Kodagu and KRS catchment area has been poor, leading to low inflow into the reservoir and no supply for agriculture.
Agriculture Joint Director Krishnaiah said: “We have decided to encourage farmers to get crop insurance cover before July 30, in case of monsoon failure or crop loss.”
Senior Researcher Vasanth Kumar of Agriculture Sciences Research Centre, Naganahalli, said a majority of ragi seeds are drought tolerant. “Change in agro-climatic conditions and scanty rains have also led us to come out cold tolerant varieties.”