Agriculture and horticulture crops on around 1.05 lakh hectares were damaged due to heavy rain since October 1. While a survey was done to ascertain the extent of damage, preliminary reports by officials indicate that agriculture crops on 74,994 hectares and horticulture crops on 30,941 hectares were damaged due to rain. TNIE takes a look at the impact of heavy rain across the state.
Dakshina Kannada: Arecanut, cocoa growers stare at loss
There are over 1.44 lakh registered arecanut growers who have suffered as tender areca fruits had fallen due to fruit rot disease, following heavy rain in June and July. Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative president Kishore Kumar Kodgi said this summer, extreme heat resulted in withering of the inflorescence. But heavy rain has worsened the condition, and farmers could not spray pesticide. Cocoa production was also affected across the district, with tender cocoa buds either rotting or blackening and falling off.
Gadag: Onion, chilli bring tears to farmers
Many farmers who grew onion and chilli are in distress, with heavy rain leaving their crops damaged. Of 12,500 hectares, sowing was completed only on 2,760 hectares. Similarly, chilli was also sown in a few places. Besides this, farmers in Nargund, Ron, Gajendragad, Laxmeshwar, Shirahatti and Mundargi also saw a loss in maize, cotton and other crops. Farmers Prakash Beleri and Manjunath Konnur said, “Abbigeri onions are famous across the state, and many farmers directly sell the onion crop to Tamil Nadu and surrounding states with the help of Yeshwantpur APMC market. But this year, Gadag’s onion farmers suffered losses and got Pune and other onions at a high price.”
Hassan: Banana and ginger crops lost
Recently, standing crops including maize, ragi and horticultural varieties, including ginger, banana and vegetables, were destroyed due to rain. According to Ramesh Kumar, joint director of agriculture, crops sown on 2.50 lakh hectares, maize on 362 hectares and ragi on 132 hectares were damaged in the district so far. The highest loss was agricultural crops on 397 hectares in Holenarasipur taluk, followed by Arkalgud (175 hectares), Hassan (79 hectares), Channarayapatna (71 hectares) and Alur (56 hectares).
Kodagu: Change in weather pattern
The changing weather pattern severely affected coffee cultivation in Kodagu, and the sector has recorded considerable loss this year due to untimely rain, said Coffee Board Deputy Director V Chandrashekar. September’s untimely rain resulted in dropping of coffee beans, which will affect productivity next year. “A crop loss survey was conducted jointly with the revenue, agriculture and horticulture departments. Coffee plantations in heavy rainfall zones have reported crop loss and a detailed report has been submitted to the district administration,” he said. Alongside paddy, ginger farmlands in the district also suffered losses due to rain in September.
Udupi: Paddy crop in ruins under incessant rain
The paddy crop which was all set to be harvested, was destroyed by rain in October. As per official data, 2,133 farmers suffered losses due to heavy rain, and the loss has been estimated at Rs 6.11 crore. The total farm area that was damaged due to heavy rain and floods in the district is 665.10 hectares -- 250.53 hectares in Brahmavara taluk, 172.22 hectares in Kundapur, 104.83 hectares in Byndoor, 76.96 hectares in Karkala, 29.82 hectares in Kaup, 18.86 hectares in Hebri and 11.88 hectares in Udupi taluk. Poornima GC, joint director, agriculture department, Udupi district, said that as per National Disaster Response Fund norms, the compensation amount has been fixed at Rs 8,500 per hectare.
Vijayapura: Worries mount for grape growers
Grape growers in Vijayapura are in distress. Abhay Kumar Nandrekar, sate president of Karnataka State Grape Growers’ Association, said that cloudy weather and even a prolonged spell of dry weather makes a negative impact, as moisture evaporates from the plants. This affects growth and creates a conducive situation for insects to start eating the stems. Of over 47,000 hectares of grape cultivation in the State, North Karnataka accounts for 40,000 hectares, with 29,000 hectares in Vijayapura district alone. Sources say that around 15,000 hectares of grape farming area of Vijayapura, Bagalkot and Belagavi districts were affected due to cloudy and moist conditions. So far, grapes have not been included in the Fasal Bima Crop Insurance Scheme, as the government treats it as a commercial crop.
Belagavi: Sugarcane farmers bitter
In Belagavi district, heavy rain has extensively damaged kharif crops spread across thousands of acres. Farmer leader Appasaheb Desai said that during July and August, torrential rain caused rivers, streams and lakes to overflow, flooding fields across the district. Major crops such as paddy, maize, soybean, green pea, cotton and pulses suffered severe damage, while sugarcane crops were waterlogged for nearly a month. Despite these conditions, farmers tried to save their sugarcane crops by draining the excess water, but with limited success. An assessment put the total loss in Belagavi at 24,777 hectares. Sugarcane was the worst affected, with losses spread over 22,000 hectares alone.
Kolar: Skewed rain pattern hits farmers
While incessant rain and floods caused crop loss across the state, farmers in Kolar, Chikkaballapur, parts of Bengaluru Rural and Ramanagara are expecting crop loss due to insufficient rain. Farmers in Kolar district cultivate more tomato compared to ragi, groundnut and other crops, and farmers who invested in ragi and groundnut are expecting low yield. Kolar Deputy Commissioner Akram Pasha said the district got deficit rain in June and July, and moderate rain in August, September and October. Joint Director of Agriculture MR Suma said that rain was not expected during the southwest monsoon, and has impacted ragi and groundnut, which are three-month crops. Though farmers sowed crops in time, there was no yield due to lack of rain. Now, the district has received good rain but it is unlikely to help farmers.
Raichur: Rain pushes paddy farmers into debt
Most crops, including paddy, cotton, chilli, tur and onion, grow in abundance in Raichur district. But rain at the beginning of the winter season (rabi) has pushed farmers into losses. Paddy grown on thousands of acres in Singapura, Mukunda, Huda, Mavinamadgu, Sidrampur, Channalli, Salagunda, and other villages have crumpled due to the rain. Basanagouda, a farmer from Mukkunda village, said, “Due to heavy rain, the paddy crop is destroyed. We have spent Rs 35,000 to Rs 40,000 per acre on paddy cultivation and fertilisers.”
Uttara Kannada: Rain damages pineapple crop
Unseasonal rainfall in Uttara Kannada has caused severe damage to the pineapple crop in and around Banavasi, about 20km away from Sirsi. “This year, we could not spray medicine before the flowering stage, as is done every year in July and August. We now feel it’s a good thing we did not spray anything. But due to heavy rain, it was rotting,” Raju, a farmer, said. A pineapple usually weighs 2kg each, but now, it does not weigh more than 1kg. “Flowering was delayed due to heavy rainfall,” said Mahesh Gouda, pineapple cultivator. Pineapple is cultivated on at least 250 hectares in Banavasi.
Chitradurga: Onion growers in distress
Onion is a major crop which suffered severe damage due to unprecedented rains. When onion was about to be harvested, a large quantity of the crop got damaged due to decay of bulbs post harvest. The crop, which was to be sent outside Karnataka, is being sold at a low price in Yeshwanthpur market in Bengaluru. Maize crop also suffered damage on approximately 900 acres, and standing maize cobs also led to germination of the crop. In Jagalur of Davanagere district, the flowering arecanut suffered loss, as did the mango crop of Santhebennur region in Davanagere district.
Shivamogga: Paddy crop destroyed
A total of 353 hectares of paddy were affected by continuous downpour, according to the agriculture department. Sources said a crop loss survey is under way, though the currently available data is preliminary. Paddy crop was lost in most parts of Shikaripura, Shivamogga and Soraba. The department is yet to send taluk-wise data on the losses to the government. Both the agriculture and revenue departments will conduct the survey, sources added. Savita G, Deputy Director of the Department of Horticulture, said that approximately 10.32 hectares of horticultural crops have been lost in Shivamogga district, affecting 20 farmers, due to heavy rain.
Dharwad: Farmers in distress
Rain has ruined farmers’ lives in the district. Crops on nearly 65,397 hectares were damaged in a span of 25 days, and assessment of last week’s rain is still being done. Maize, cotton, groundnut, paddy, red chilli, onions, flowers and other crops, and more than 3,500 hectares with agricultural crops like paddy, chilli and cotton were damaged, after heavy rain in the past two months.
(From Divya Cutinho/Dakshina Kannada, Raghottam Koppar/ Gadag, By BR Udaya Kumar/ Hassan, Prajna GR/ Madikeri, Prakash Samaga/ Udupi, Firoz Rozindar/ Vijayapura, Tushar A Majukar/ Belagavi, Velayudham/ Kolar, Basavaraj Bhogavati/ Raichur, Subhash Chandra NS/ Uttara Kannada, G Subhash Chandra/ Chitradurga, Arpitha I/ Shivamogga, Mallikarjun Hiremath/ Dharwad)