NIZAMABAD: Farmers of northern Telangana districts are a worried lot over the continued dry spell in the second week of July, which is further compounding the
kharif plantation process given the already late arrival of monsoon this time around.
In Nizamabad and Kamareddy, a few farmers have started operations depending
on supply from submersible pump sets.
As per the agriculture department estimates, of 5.13 lakh acres of farming land in Nizamabad, 4.17 lakh acres are mainly where paddy is cultivated. But so far, the kharif planting has been done only on 50,000 acres.
A similar situation persists for other main crops, namely soya bean and maize, with 32,000 of 58,715 acres and 22,0000 of 32,185 acres covered, respectively, in this kharif.
Cultivation of cotton, red gram, green gram, black gram and groundnuts may be much lower in numbers this year, farmers said.
Tenant farmer Devanna, of Deekampally village in Makloor mandal, said that he has sown paddy and is now waiting for rains. “If we don't get rains by next week, the seeds will die out in the agriculture fields. This will be a problem as I made tenant agreement with landlords by offering 10 bags of 70 kgs each of paddy per acre,” he said.
Farmers under Nizamsagar ayacut in Kamareddy and Nizamabad district have,
however, picked up the agriculture operations, as the state government released the first tranche of water into the main canal of the Nizamsagar project for the kharif season.
Agriculture department officials said that they prepared plans for required seeds and fertilisers in the district. “If adverse climatic conditions prevail, we are also ready for alternative plans,” an official said.
