Mangaluru
DK bets on arecanut, pepper to tide over rain shortfall
A dry spell coupled with deficient rainfall has left paddy growers across Dakshina Kannada anticipating a poor harvest this season, with the transplantation process getting delayed. Farmers said continuous soil moisture is essential for paddy cultivation, but insufficient rainfall has resulted in paddy fields readied for cultivation to dry out.
As per the India Meteorological Department, between March and May, the district should have received 23.66mm rainfall in pre-monsoon showers but there was only 16.17mm rainfall with a deficiency of 32%. Rainfall in June is crucial for paddy cultivation, but this year the district got only 39.51mm rainfall instead of 92.79mm average rainfall -- a deficit of 57 per cent.
Paddy growers said the lack of pre-monsoon showers affected the preparation of soil, tilling and nursery beds. Due to scarcity of rainfall, there is no natural flow of water in streams or natural springs of water essential for paddy cultivation, hence many farmers are not keen on cultivating paddy this season, fearing losses. Paddy cultivation activities in higher elevation or dry upland fields that rely mainly on rain have not been taken up yet.
Farmers said that by July-end, usually they finish transplanting saplings. Some growers have opted for modern mat nursery methods while many have opted for direct seeding as it bypasses the traditional water-intensive nursery and transplanting stages.
Dr TJ Ramesha, senior and head scientist, KVK DK, has advised paddy growers to go for short-term paddy varieties that mature within 125 days. Honnappa Gowda, joint director, Agriculture department, said though they have set a target of cultivating paddy on 10,000 hectares, farmers may not be able to harvest a second crop this season as transplanting is yet to start in many paddy fields and they are encouraging paddy growers to shift to pulses such as sesame, cowpea and black gram due to rain deficit.
Meanwhile, arecanut farmers who grow pepper fear a drop in yield as a crucial flowering process got affected due to the dry spell in June. Pepper growers said there was almost 50 per cent rain deficit in June and the temperature also touched 40 degree Celsius. However, since rain has picked up pace over the past few days, he is hoping pepper will recover from the damage.
According to scientists at the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI), the arecanut crop has not been adversely affected by the current weather conditions so far.
– Divya Cutinho
Belagavi
Belagavi farmers demand drought declaration
Farmers in Belagavi district have urged the State government to declare the district as drought-hit, citing severe rainfall deficit that has left crops wilting, drinking water sources drying up and thousands of farming families facing financial hardship.
Farmer leader Raju Marve said several taluks are experiencing drought-like conditions due to below-normal monsoon. Wells and borewells are running dry in many villages, leading to an acute shortage of drinking water, while standing crops have suffered extensive damage because of inadequate rainfall and soaring temperatures.
Marve said many farmers had borrowed money to buy seeds, fertilisers and other agricultural inputs but now face heavy losses with little chance of recovering their investments. Agricultural labourers are also struggling as farm work has declined sharply, forcing many rural families to migrate to neighbouring states in search of employment. He also expressed concern over reports of farmer suicides allegedly linked to mounting debt and crop failure.
Farmers have demanded an immediate drought survey across Belagavi district and sought the declaration of rainfall-deficit taluks as severely drought-affected. They have also urged the government to provide 200 days of employment under the rural employment scheme with a daily wage of Rs 600, clear all pending wages and waive farm loans taken from nationalised, cooperative and private financial institutions.
Meanwhile, uncertainty over the monsoon has led to a sharp rise in enrolment under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). Against the district’s kharif sowing target of 7.52 lakh hectares, cultivation has been completed on 6.46 lakh hectares, covering 86 per cent of the target.
So far, 33,174 farmers have enrolled for crop insurance, with Savadatti (10,012), Ramdurg (9,534), Bailhongal (5,979) and Athani (3,251) recording the highest registrations. Officials said more than 45,000 farmers usually enrol each year, but drought fears are expected to push the number higher. The deadline for insuring maize, soybean, sunflower and paddy remains open until July 31.
– Tushar A Majukar
Kalaburagi
Green gram, black gram to give poor yield
Green gram and black gram yield in the district is likely to come down drastically due to the poor monsoon. According to the statistics available, Kalaburagi district was to receive 107.3mm rain in June but has received 69.2mm (deficit of 36mm) and till July 22, the district was to receive 90.2mm rain but has received 45mm (50mm deficit). While farmers complete sowing of green gram, black gram, bajra and soybean in May and June (short-term crops) and harvest it in August, the target has not been met due to severe shortage of rain.
Sources said green gram has been cultivated on 34,753 hectares of land against the target of 54,000 hectares. Black gram has been cultivated on 12,631 hectares as against the target of 25,000 hectares (51 per cent). Bajra has been cultivated on 80 hectares against the target of 600 hectares and soybean has been cultivated on 15,040 hectares against a target of 23,000 hectares. Farmers who sowed green gram and black gram in May and June are optimistic that they would get a good yield if rainfall is normal. According to agriculture experts, farmers would not get good yield as in the past many years, the growth of these crops has not been on expected lines.
Bhimappa, a farmer in Fartabad, said he has borrowed money to buy seeds and fertilizers and is now jittery over the crop prospects.
Samad Patel, joint director, Department of Agriculture, said they have advised farmers to adopt contingent crop planning by going for red gram, maize and sunflower as these could be grown till mid-August.
– Ramkrishna Badseshi
Dharwad
Farmers want compensation, plan to move to cities
Farmers of Dharwad district who sowed green gram, black gram, soya bean and sugarcane are jittery about the poor monsoon. Farmer associations say that 80 per cent of farmers are in distress. In May and June, a few farmers took up re-sowing but rains were poor.
Srishail Gouda Kamatar, a farmer leader, said one has to spend a minimum of Rs 20,000 to sow one acre of land, and getting bank loans was not easy either. He urged the Central and State governments to provide compensation to farmers.
Shivanand Nagganavar, a farmer with 20 acres of agricultural land in Yadwad village, said the scattered rain was a worry. “We have some irrigated land and have found 50 per cent success in growing some crops, but have to see the yield. The government should think of distributing compensation,” he said.
Shashikala Swami, a farmer, said she had sown black gram on two acres. One acre should give a yield of eight quintals but in the past two years, she did not get even half of it. “Now we will have to work as labourers in the city where we can get Rs 500 for women and Rs 800 for men,” she said.
– Mallikarjun Hiremath
Shivamogga
Rice bowl Shivamogga now prefers ragi, maize
The main crops in the district are maize and paddy but with a deficient monsoon in June and July, and no rain in the catchment areas of Bhadra, Ambligola, Anjanapura and Tunga reservoirs, farmers of the command areas of these dams cannot cultivate paddy. Since it is a low-lying region, other crops, too, cannot be grown.
“For the past few days, it has been raining in Thirthahalli, Sagar and Hosanagar taluks. Farmers have started sowing paddy there,” said Kirankumar, joint director, Department of Agriculture. He said maize has been sown in some areas, while sowing is going on in other pockets. However, the department has suggested ragi instead of maize. He added that the total area of crop cultivation is coming down every year. During the monsoon, the department’s target is 66,000 hectares for paddy and 40,000 hectares for for maize.
Until the 1980s, the district was referred to as the state’s rice bowl. Later, the focus shifted to sugarcane. In the late 1990s, many moved away from agriculture crops to horticulture and farmers set up arecanut plantations across the district.
The government has said there will be no water for irrigated lands, and priority is being given to drinking water instead of irrigation. Farmers in command areas of various reservoirs are unable to go in for agriculture crops.
– Ramachandra V Gunari
Gadag
Gadag temples resonate with prayers for rain
Temples in Gadag district are resonating with prayers for rain. People are engaged in ‘gurji’, worship of goddesses on Fridays and Tuesdays, marriages of dolls, donkeys and frogs, all seeking rain. Children in rural areas are going to temples with dolls to pray for rain. Some villagers say these rituals are looked upon not only as worship of gods for rain but an occasion for children to learn folk songs and various rituals.
Sangamesh Menasagi, who lives at Jakkali in Ron taluk, says, “We are worried about poor rainfall. Many of us do not have access to borewells and depend on rains. It looks like drought is here and we have no choice but to pray.”
– Raghottam Koppar
Kodagu
Not just paddy cultivation, local traditions are also under strain
Kodagu district has received only 777.40mm of rainfall since January, a sharp decline compared to the 1837.56mm recorded during the same period last year. While paddy transplantation is typically completed by July 20, many fields currently lie uncultivated. Desperate farmers are waiting for rain while turning to alternative farming techniques to overcome water scarcity.
Paddy farming in Kodagu is both a vital agricultural practice and an integral part of local tradition. ‘Puthari’, a primary festival of the district, centers around paddy cultivation. The first harvest of the year is worshipped and celebrated during December. However, with dry spells evident across several regions in the district, the impact stretches beyond agriculture and is directly threatening the district’s rich tradition.
“Acres of farmland across South Kodagu rely on water from Lakshmanatheertha to kickstart the paddy season,” said K Ramesh, a progressive farmer at Kanuru village. He, however, added that the river has dried up due to scarce rainfall this year. “But we cannot abandon paddy cultivation as this is part of our culture and tradition,” he said, adding that a few farmers who can afford to install pump sets are now lifting water from nearby freshwater streams to cultivate paddy.
As per data with the agriculture department, only about 150 hectares of farmland, of the targeted 15,000 hectares, have seen paddy transplantation till now. Many farmers in the northern belt of the district are waiting for officials to release water from the Harangi reservoir to water canals to save their crops. “Paddy saplings have been grown with much difficulty, but we fear they will dry fast due to the absence of rain,” said Murthy, a farmer in Kudige. He requested the authorities to immediately release water to canals to help farmers save their saplings.
Meanwhile, a few small farmers who own about 1-3 acres of paddy farmland have adopted alternative techniques and are sowing paddy seeds directly into the land, breaking away from the traditional transplant process. “The farmlands are still dry and have not been submerged in water. We cannot afford to pump water into the farm and hence many of us have adopted the Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) method where we sow seeds directly instead of transplanting grown saplings,” said Madappa, a farmer in Srimangala limits.
Meanwhile, Krishi Vignyan Kendra scientists have suggested that farmers opt for short-duration paddy varieties to tide over the delayed rains. Overall, farmers in the district are caught between the dilemma of whether or not to cultivate their lands this year due to scarce rainfall and added expense it brings along.
– Prajna GR
Vijayapura
Farmers want Almatti waters, tur set for low yield
Erratic and scanty rains have upset plans of farmers in Vijayapura district who were hoping for higher yields like last year. Cultivation is rain-dependent in the district due to the unavailability of extensive irrigation facilities.
According to the Department of Agriculture, the district has a total of 9.16lakh hectares of cultivable land, of which only 3.56lakh hectares are irrigated. So far, only 69 per cent sowing has taken place, but if the monsoon was normal, over 90 per cent sowing would have been completed by now.
“Despite scanty rains, some farmers took the risk of sowing, but others did not due to insufficient moisture in the soil,” said Arvind Kulkarni, state convener of Akhanda Karnataka Raita Sangha. He said those who had undertaken sowing are now waiting for rain which will help the seeds germinate and withstand the dry season. Those who did not go for sowing are pinning their hopes on the Rabi season to recover losses.
Meanwhile, farmers of command areas of Almatti dam have started exerting pressure on the government to release water from canals for irrigation.
They say that since Almatti dam has over 90tmcft of water, and is expected to get filled to its capacity of 123tmcft soon, water can be released to save their withering crops.
Since tur is the largest cultivated crop in the district, farmers depend on it as it gives good returns with limited expenses. But this year, there is a fear that the yield will be hit.
APMC officials said that on an average, during good rains, the district produces around 13 lakh quintals of tur. “But this year, due to deficit rain, we may not get average production. Only after harvest, we will get to know the exact quantity,” an official said.
– Firoz Rozindar
