ANANTAPUR: Cultivation of groundnut in Anantapur is likely to shrink further in the coming kharif season due to the shortage of subsidised seeds.
Groundnut accounts for 86 per cent of Anantapur’s total farming, and deficit and erratic rains have affected groundnut cultivation, resulting in farmers suffering loses.
Taking into account the harsh conditions, the Department of Agriculture has been distributing subsidy seeds to farmers. It had distributed 2.90 lakh subsidy seeds in 2021, and has been planning to 2.45 lakh seeds for the current kharif cultivation.
The department distributed the seeds in four phases the previous year, even as lack of water of resources and dip in groundwater levels have been making farmers shy away from cultivating groundnut.
The government had offered a subsidy of 40 per cent in 2021. The subsidy for the current year has not been decided.
“Cultivation of groundnut is dependent on rains. Farmers in the region have also been cultivating commercial crops along with groundnut during the kharif season, resulting in lesser farming of groundnuts. Farmers have also started cultivating red gram and others during other seasons. We have been taking measures to supply subsidy groundnut seeds based on the demand,’’ Agriculture Joint Director Chandra Naik said.