BENGALURU: The Karnataka government on Thursday requested the inter-ministerial central team to consider the ‘green drought’ prevailing in the state and urged that the assessment be made based on factors like crop growth and yield. The 10-member team is on a visit to Karnataka to take stock of the drought situation and assess crop loss. Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said that the government has urged the team to reconsider existing drought norms, especially for small and marginal farmers.
Speaking to the reporters after the meeting with the central team, Gowda said that the rain deficit in the state is 28 per cent since June. Severe shortage of rain in June and August has hit farming affecting crops, he said. “In some places, there is green cover, but the yield has come down. We have informed the team of this green drought which is unusual, and urged them to check this during their field visit,” Gowda added.
Green drought is when the vegetation may appear green on the top, but there is stunted growth and soil moisture stress for more than a month impacting yield drastically. This phenomenon is particularly problematic because it can be challenging to detect and monitor. Gowda said the height of a tur plant, which is still green, has come down to 2.5ft as against the normal 5ft. “The yield has fallen. Usually, each bunch of green gram will have 200 gm yield. This has come down to 50 gm now,” he said.
He also said that the State Government officials along with scientists from the University of Agricultural Sciences will accompany the central teams. The State Government earlier had declared 195 taluks as drought-hit, including 34 taluks as moderate drought-hit. On September 22, the state cabinet approved the drought memorandum and it was submitted online to the Centre on the same night, he said, adding that of the remaining 41 taluks, 32 received less rain.
“As per Central guidelines, about 15 taluks may be eligible to be drought-hit. So, on Monday the cabinet subcommittee will meet again and send the second list of about 15 taluks for ground verification, as part of the process to declare them as drought-hit,” he added.
He also said though there are 15 states that are facing drought, only Karnataka has declared drought and approached the Centre so far. “Though our actual loss is estimated to be close to Rs 30,000 crore, as per central norms, Karnataka has sought Rs 4,860 crore,” he said. Karnataka Agriculture Minister N Chaluvarayaswamy, Cooperative Minister Rajanna and others were present.
Satisfied that we protected crops of our farmers, says DKS
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar here on Thursday claimed that the Congress government has protected standing crops in the state despite witnessing a distress year. Speaking to reporters here, he said Karna-taka needs 106 tmcft of water but only has 56 tmcft in the reservoirs in the Cauvery basin.
“The rain in the last couple of days helped increase inflow into the dams. But now it is decreasing. We have protected the standing crops. It is a matter of satisfaction. Drought has been declared in the state and we have advised farmers not to sow any crops in the near future. It is likely to rain again next month. This is a distress year,” he said. Reacting to murmurs about the CM not defending him over the Cauvery issue, Shivakumar said that as water resources minister he has been defending himself.
Not a bountiful monsoon...