Andhra Pradesh

Scanty rainfall may affect kharif crop

Sangareddy: With the rainfall registering an all-time low of minus 80 per cent, only 10 per cent of the normal sown area of 50,000 hectares in Medak district has been taken for cultivation.

The impact of the dry spell has been such that the farmers will have to sow seeds once again even if it rains during the remaining days of July. The average rainfall in July used to be 218 mm but the rainfall recorded during the first week remained at 7.6 mm including the short spell in certain areas of the district on Tuesday.

Agriculture Department officers in the district pointed out that salvaging the kharif crop through a contingency plan would also be difficult at this stage as any crop would require certain minimal level of moisture to survive.

The emergency plan laid out by the department envisages crops like maize and sunflower as an alternative as the more lucrative pulses like red and green gram would find it difficult to survive if it rains within a fortnight.

The department estimates that only 2,000 to 3,000 hectares of the 25,000 hectares might be taken up by farmers to grow maize and sunflower.

Farmers in the district might have to wait for some more time for sufficient amount of fertilizer and quality seed as the supplies so far remained below the required level.

Farmers are still queuing up at the fertilizer shops hoping that it might rain anytime as the skies remained overcast.

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