AMARAVATI: The absence of water supply is posing a threat to the chilli and other crops in this season in 12 lakh acres of Guntur district. The government stored water for Krishna Pushkaralu and as the event has concluded, the farmers are demanding release of the stored water to save the crops from drying. At least 5 TMC feet of water was released into Krishna river for Pushkaralu out of which 2 TMC feet was stored in the reservoir at Prakasam Barrage.
According to the officials, in 6.10 lakh hectares in Guntur district, paddy, chilli, tobacco, pulses and other crops are cultivated in which 2.24 lakh hectares of area is rainfed and 3.75 lakh hectares are dependent on canal water. The Krishna Western Delta and tail-end areas of Nagarju-nasagar Right Canal are facing water shortage. The government proposed rain-guns to supply water for irrigation purposes but the absence of water became a hurdle. joint director of agriculture Guntur, V.D.A. Krupa Das said. The agriculture department readied 674 rain-guns for the usage of farmers free of cost to sprinkle water in their farmlands in Guntur district.
The farmers did not cultivate paddy which needs lot of water compared to other crops due to the absence of rains and shortage of water supply. According to the reports, the paddy cultivated in a few areas only due to shortage of water and farmers cultivated chilli and pulses in 12 lakh acres. Guntur chilli is very famous in the international market and it got good price in the recent past. So, the farmers preferred to cultivate chilli crop, but now they fear drying up of the crop if the government did not release water in the next 10 days. Farmers of Bapatla, Y. Venkateswarlu and others said that a majority of ponds in the villages have dried up, so water cannot be borrowed for rain gun usage.
