Eruvaka: Woman official sets tone for Kharif works in Guntur district
GUNTUR: Woman officer Vijaya Bharati of Agriculture Department kick-started Kharif operations by driving a tractor in the fields during the Eruvaka festival at Ganapavaram under Nadendla mandal in Guntur district on Thursday. Assembly Speaker K Siva Prasad Rao, ministers P Pulla Rao, N Anand Babu, MLAs and other leaders and farmers along with their family members celebrated Yeruvaka. After performing ‘pooja’ to cattle, agricultural implements and the land, the farmers started ploughing the fields for cultivation.
The Agriculture department supplied 25,000 quintals of seeds including green gram, black gram, sesamum and millets for Kharif season in the district. According to available data, the farmers are raising paddy in 1.83 lakh hectares, coarse grains in 1.85 lakh hectares, food grains in 2.29 lakh hectares and oilseeds in 2,562 hectares during the Kharif season in Guntur district.
As per official records, the highest rainfall of 52.0 mm was recorded at Repalle in Guntur in June. Agriculture Joint Director M Vijaya Bharati appealed to the farmers against excessive use of pesticides and fertilisers as it would reduce crop yield and create health problems for farmers. She said the government was encouraging farmers to take up natural farming to produce quality food grains.