BENGALURU: Karnataka’s farming community faced one of the worst droughts last year when both the southwest and northeast monsoons failed miserably. This year, good showers during the khariff and rabi seasons brought some cheer, but this did not last long. The heavy downpour in October put paid to all their hard labour. The incessant rain in parts of the state damaged crops in thousands of hectares, especially khariff, which was ready for harvesting.
As per data from the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Management Centre (KSNDMC), 153 of 246 taluks witnessed excess rainfall from October 1 to 24. In 2023, the state reported the lowest rainfall in 123 years and 223 taluks were declared drought-hit. Crops like maize, ragi, paddy and pulses failed or gave low yield due to severe drought.
“The heavy rain in the last few days damaged both agricultural and horticultural crops. Officials are assessing the damage which will take some time to complete,” Agriculture Minister N Cheluvarayaswamy told The New Indian Express. As per the initial estimate, agricultural crops in over one lakh hectares have been damaged.
Dormer KSNDMC director Srinivas Reddy said many khariff crops like maize and jowar and horticulture crops like onion and chilly, which were ready for harvesting, have now been damaged in certain pockets. Sowing of rabi crops was supposed to start now, but has not taken place as the soil moisture content is high.
A senior government official said in certain places, cotton, paddy, groundnut and other crops have been damaged. “In Haveri, maize was sown in May and farmers had just finished harvesting. But due to the heavy rain, the harvested crops have started germination,’’ he added.
“In Malnad, arecanut and coffee plantations were affected by the rain. This will result in less yield. A survey is being conducted by the agriculture, horticulture and revenue departments. Compensation will be paid to farmers as per guidelines.”