VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh so far has received 28 per cent excess rainfall in the monsoon, as it recorded 427.5 mm as against the normal rainfall of 334 mm.Ten of the State’s 13 districts received excess rainfall, while two — Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram — received normal rainfall. Anantapur district received 79.6 per cent excess rainfall, the highest in the State.
As against the normal rainfall of 174.5 mm till date since June 1, Anantapur recorded 313.4 mm. Chittoor district, with 73.2 per cent excess rainfall (436.9 mm as against the normal of 252.3 mm), stood second. Kurnool (69.1 per cent excess), Prakasam (43.5 per cent excess) and Nellore (41 per cent excess) took the next three places.
Comparatively, north coastal districts received less rainfall, with Srikakulam district receiving 25.3 per cent less than normal. As against the normal rainfall of 430.5 mm, the district received 321.7 mm. Neighbouring Vizianagaram district received 12.3 per cent less than-normal rainfall, but as deviations up to 19 per cent are considered normal, the district has not been categorised as having received a deficit. Visakhapatnam district, which received 7.3 per cent more rainfall than normal, was also categorised as having received normal rainfall.
AP received 113.1 mm of rainfall in June, as against the normal of 93.7 mm. In July, against the normal of 151.3 mm, it received 225.1 mm, and in the first 16 days of August, it received 89.3 mm, against the normal of 89 mm. IMD officials predict more rains in the coming week, which means the State is likely to get excess rainfall for some more time.But reservoirs in the State are not as filled as they were last year. The present storage is 477.15 TMC as against the total capacity of 770.71 TMC. On August 16 last year, the storage was 570.26 TMC.
Agriculture activity gains pace
With the good rains, sowing operations have been better than normal. As against the total 39,58,906 hectares of targeted area under cultivation, seeds have been sowed on 25,00,894 hectares so far, which is much more than normal. Sowing of groundnut has been completed.
According to the weekly report released by the Agriculture department, 67 per cent of the total area has been cultivated. As much as 76-100 per cent of the area set aside for maize, ragi, soybean and cotton has been cultivated, while 51-75 per cent of the area for paddy, bajra, red gram, sesamum, onion and turmeric has been cultivated.
On the land for black gram, green gram, castor, sunflower and sugarcane, 26-50 per cent of the crop has been cultivated, while for jowar, horse gram, chilli, mesta and tobacco, less than 25 per cent has been cultivated. Paddy is at nurseries for the transplantation stage. Jowar, bajra and maize are at the sowing and vegetative stages. Ragi transplantation is in progress. Sowing is underway for cotton, red gram and other kharif crops. Paddy that was sown early is at the tillering and harvesting stages. Kharif pulses, groundnut and sesame that were sown early are at the vegetative and flowering stages. Sugarcane is at the vegetative stage.
