Kharif starts amid financial difficulties
Rajamahendravaram(East Godavari District): The money related to the purchase of rabi crop has not yet been fully deposited in the farmers’ accounts by the government. Meanwhile, the time for kharif cultivation is approaching.
About Rs 200 crore is yet to be paid to the farmers in the district. As the money from the sale of paddy grains was not received in full, many farmers started kharif cultivation amid financial difficulties.
This year’s rabi crop has not been fully purchased. The grain bought was not fully paid for. Earlier, it was found that there were 96,000 tenant farmers in the district but not all of them were given tenant credit cards. Irrigation canals have not been modernised. The silt and water weeds in the drains were not removed.
According to government statistics, there are a total of 2.20 lakh farmers in the district. There are 85,410 hectares of irrigated area. The general command area of paddy in the district is 78,789 hectares. At least 71,515 hectares are under paddy cultivation. In the rest of the land, maize, chillies, pulses and other varieties are cultivated.
At present, farmers are making paddy nurseries. A total of 3,891 hectares of nurseries are required for sowing in 77,817 hectares of the district. So far 743 hectares of nurseries have been prepared. Work is going on at some other places.
Despite this, the officials found that 58,356 metric tonnes of fertilisers are required for kharif cultivation in the district-- 25,802 tonnes of urea, 5,028 tonnes of DAP, 6,327 tonnes of MOP, 15,889 tonnes of NPK and 5,310 tonnes of SSP. But officials said that 29,998 tonnes of various fertilisers are available.
Agriculture Department district officer S Madhava Rao said that kharif cultivation starts a month earlier. Due to this, 70 per cent of the crop will be saved from the cyclones that come in November. He said that nurseries should be completed by the 15th of this month. It is expected that sowing will be completed by the end of July. It is estimated that 70 per cent of the harvesting will take place in October and the remaining in November.
He said that during this kharif, the Swarna variety rice crop will be spread over 30 per cent of the area in the district. MTU 7029, PLA 1100, MTU 1318, and BPT 5204 varieties are cultivated in the remaining area, he added. MTU 1121, 1156, and 1153 varieties are cultivated for the rabi.