Andhra Pradesh

Rain dashes cotton growers’ hopes

— Photo: G.N. Rao

Vagaries of nature: A farmer couple show damaged cotton in Khammam district.

KHAMMAM: Continuous rain has cast a shadow on the hopes of cotton farmers who were expecting a bumper crop this year.

Those who had sown the early varieties are likely to bear the brunt of the loss.

The entire peasant community is worried about potential impact of the adverse climatic conditions as there was still no let-up in the situation.

Over 2.5 lakh acres of area is under cotton, mainly the Bt varieties in the district this year and nearly three fourths of the crop is ready for first picking.

A majority of the farmers could not begin the picking process as it had been raining for the past two weeks. .

At many places, the overflowing streams left the crops swamped. Intermittent rain and waterlogging on the fields resulted in flower and boll dropping. As the pods opened up, the cotton, ripe for harvest and exposed to rain and moisture, began to lose its sheen. The discoloured cotton would fetch hardly one-third of the market price.

Vagaboina Venkateswarlu, a cotton farmer at Chintakani, said the rain was untimely and the cotton seedpods began sprouting on his farm well before the harvest. The district received an average of 279.8 mm rain, against the normal 164 mm in September last. Heavy rain lashed different parts of the district during the past five days, taking a heavy toll on cotton.

The loss was extensive in Enkoor, Julurpadu, Karepalli and Kothagudem mandals. Rain at this stage was good for paddy but not for cotton, said Agriculture Department officials. Khammam Collector Sashibushan Kumar said the condition of the cotton crop in the district would be assessed soon.

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