Prolonged rains damage agricultural crops in Northern Karnataka

Haveri: While the monsoon season initially brought relief to the people, after a year of drought in the state, heavy and prolonged rains in September and October have caused widespread damage to agricultural and horticultural crops across Northern Karnataka.

District officials are currently assessing the scale of destruction.

In Haveri district, approximately 1,015 hectares of agricultural crops such as paddy, jowar, cotton, groundnut, and soybean were affected in October. Additionally, 30.25 hectares of horticultural crops, including chilli, cucumber, tomato, ridge gourd, papaya, and ginger, have suffered damage.

In Kalaburagi district, crops over 19,500 hectares have been affected due to rain particularly in September, according to agriculture department officials. Among the damaged crops are tur, urad, green gram, soya bean, and cotton. Officials noted that some of these crops were close to being harvested, with urad and green gram suffering heavy losses due to waterlogging.

The situation is similar in Gadag district, where heavy rainfall has damaged around 800 hectares of crops near Bennehalla and another 500 hectares in Nargund Taluk. Chilli and onion crops have been the worst hit, and even a small quantity of tur dal has been impacted.

Chamarasa Maali Patil, honorary president of Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha, expressed concern about the damage in the Kalyana Karnataka region.

“In Bidar, Kalaburagi, Yadgir, and parts of Raichur of Kalyana Karnataka (Hyderabad Karnataka) region, we have seen significant losses in tur and cotton crops due to recent rains. Chilli crops have also been severely damaged,” he told Deccan Chronicle.

He further added, “The cotton crops were in their early flowering stage, and excess water has damaged the tur crops as well.”

Farmers are grappling with uncertainty over compensation. “We have not yet received drought relief, and now the farmers are facing losses due to rain,” Patil lamented.