Hyderabad: Only 3 lakh acres of cotton sown till date

Hyderabad: Farmers in the state are unsure whether they should take up the sowing of seeds or not, with the monsoon yielding deficit rainfall so far.

Though the IMD has projected good rains in July and August, farmers saying that the state has received below average rainfall so far. Besides, the monsoon started late, and there were many dry periods between rainy days.

Following the forecast of the late arrival of monsoon rains, the state government had issued an advisory to farmers not to go for early sowing and that should wait for another month.

Ms Pasya Padma, general secretary of the Telangana State Rythu Sangham, said that only around 20 per cent of the total area was sown under Kharif so far food crops.

Cotton farmers had sown in around 3 lakh hectares, whereas the total area where cotton grown is 17.25 lakh hectares. She said the state government should consider taking steps to declare a drought in view of the poor rainfall.

Nationwide data suggested that the area sown under kharif crops was down by 27 per cent at 234.33 lakh hectare amid deficient monsoon rainfall last month.

According to the data released by the agriculture ministry, the area under Kharif cultivation was 234.33 lakh hectare till the last week of the kharif season of 2019-20 crop year (July-June), as against last year’s 319.68 lakh hectare.

Rice, the main kharif crop, was sown in 52.47 lakh hectare till last week, down from 68.60 lakh hectare a year ago. Pulses, especially tur, urad and moong, were sown in very less area at 7.94 lakh hectare as against 27.91 lakh hectare, while coarse cereals were planted in 37.37 lakh hectare as against 50.65 lakh hectare last year, the data showed. This deficit was seen in TS, AP, Karnataka, Maharashtra, MP, UP, TN and Rajasthan. The area under oilseeds was at 34.02 lakh hectare (59.37 lakh hectare last year).