NELLORE: The area of cultivation of paddy has increased by 13.47% in Nellore district in two years due to sufficient availability of water resources. Paddy was cultivated in 2,15,725 hectares during 2019-20 Rabi season and in 2,24,307 hectares the next year. The crop was grown in 2,44,776 hectares during the 2021-22 Rabi.
Paddy consumes more water than other crops. As per irrigation officials, 10,000 acres of paddy fields need 1 tmc ft of water for good growth. They said at least 52 tmc of water was needed to supply water to 5,21,000 acres, including the unauthorised ayacut under the Penna delta.
Pennar delta, Papireddy canal, Kanupur canal, and North and South canals come under the Somasila project, which has an ayacut of around five lakh acres. A majority of the water storage points in the district have had good water levels in the last three years, which helped in getting good yield of paddy. As a result, the yield increased and it is more than the demand from the district.
According to data, paddy was cultivated in 16,607 hectares and the farmers got a yield of 1,01,958 metric tonnes during the Kharif season of 2019-20. During the next Kharif, the crop was grown in 52,223 hectares and farmers got a yield of 3,33,481 metric tonnes. Last Kharif, the area of cultivation increased further to 69,911 hectares.
The total yield the farmers got was 15,26,902 MTs (2019-20), 15,69,149 MT (2020-21) and 17,13,432 MT (2021-22). “Somasila, which plays a key role in irrigation in the district, has had good water levels for the last three years. The rainfall activity increased the groundwater levels, which helped in maintaining good levels at major reservoirs and tanks in the district,’ said I Sudheer Reddy, a farmer from Nellore.