Rains damage crops in 12,000 acres across Andhra Pradesh

VIJAYAWADA: Rainfall under the influence of southwest monsoon in the last few days has affected several crops across 12,000 acres following inundation of fields.

Based on a preliminary estimate, crops like cotton, paddy, greengram, red gram, groundnut and others were submerged. If the rainfall continues for the next few days, the crops may suffer substantial damage.

Guntur district suffered a lot as cotton crop in about 8,000 acres located in Amaravati region has been inundated as local rivulets overflowed. Kadapa, Anantapur and other districts also bore the brunt of inundation.

Agriculture authorities say that as farm fields are inundated with rainwater, they are waiting for the water to recede to take up enumeration of the extent of damage or loss to crops. The latest weekly report of agriculture department for crop sowings in kharif season says that total area sown so far was 28.76 lakh hectares against the normal area of 37.33 lakh hectares.

They said that following rainfall, paddy transplantation was going on at a brisk pace in north coastal districts like Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram while it was at tillering stage in the Godavari delta region. The paddy is at nurseries to transplantation stage in Guntur, Prakasam and Rayalaseema districts.

As the affected crops are vulnerable to pests and diseases, officials will instruct farmers on how to deal with the situation, like spraying.

Guntur agriculture joint director M. Vijaya Bharathi said “Crops like cotton, black gram, red gram and jute have been inundated in parts of Amaravati and its neighbouring areas because of overflowing streams. If there is a let up in the rainfall, water recedes and the crops will survive.”

The state received actual rainfall of 483.5 mm against the normal of 433.9 mm with deviation of 11.4% from June 1. It received average rainfall of 13.8 mm with Vizianagaram registering the highest at 50.8 mm followed by 46.2 mm inSrikakulam and 32.1 mm in Visakhapatnam.