Anantapur: Groundnut, paddy farmers hope for bumper yield

Anantapur: The district recorded excess rainfall in all but three of the total 63 mandals in the district. While the normal rainfall in June was 63.9 mm but the actual rainfall registered was 106.8 mm. In July, the normal rainfall was 67.4 mm while the actual rainfall was 166.8 mm. In August, the actual rainfall was 42.3 mm and the rainfall recorded so far is 39.5 mm. While the June and July registered excess rainfall of 80 per cent and 100 per cent respectively while August registered normal rainfall.

The impact of rainfall on Agriculture particularly groundnut crop is by and large good, according to agriculture joint director Y Rama Krishna. Speaking to The Hans India Rama Krishna said that being new to district, he is studying the dynamics of weather conditions in the district. About 60-70 per cent of sowing of groundnut was carried on in June in time and thus the growth of the crop was scientifically appropriate. About 30 per cent of sowing was carried out in July a little lately.

The excess rainfall resulted in excessive growth of vegetation resulting in expectation of less yield, he explained. So those, who sowed after first week of July is likely to get less than normal yield while for 70 per cent of crop sown in June is expected to register a bumper yield of 15-20 bags of groundnut per acre. The excess rains recorded during the past three months will however help those, who are raising paddy crop. Rangaswamy, a groundnut farmer in Raptadu, told The Hans India that due to his delayed sowing in July end, the crop yield is expected to be lower than the average. The excessive rains also affected the quality of his crop, he added.