Andhra Pradesh

Rainfall insufficient for kharif crops in district

Sangareddy: Sowing of kharif crops under the Nallavagu and Ghanpur irrigation systems remained at 50 per cent with the cumulative rainfall recorded for June and July in the district at 168 mm against the anticipated 344 mm.

A minimum of 0.2 tmcft of water from Singur is required to irrigate the 15,000 acres of land under the Ghanpur Anicut. The water level in Singur is currently around 6 tmcft, while it was 11 tmcft last year around the same time. Irrigation officials pointed out that only 200 cusecs of water flowed into Singur in the past three days.

Whatever activity was picked up after last weeks rain was under lift irrigation and from borewell as the natural water bodies received no rainfall from the catchment areas. According to the Agriculture Department, only 53 per cent of area in the district had been taken for farming this kharif. As per the data available, sowing has been done in only 40 per cent of cultivable area under paddy, maize and corn, 62 to 73 per cent of pulses, 100 per cent for cotton in the district so far. Meanwhile, farmers staged dharnas in Sadasivapet, Munipalli , Narsapur and Ramayampet demanding fertilizer for the kharif crop.

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