No water for paddy sowing in uplands

Rajamahendravaram: Despite heavy rains and floods, there is no irrigation water in the upland mandals under the erstwhile East Godavari district. In the present Kharif season, paddy cultivation was not yet started in the uplands due to insufficient irrigation water.

Generally, seedlings will be sowed within 15 days after planting in the nurseries. After 20 days, the plants will grow. But now crops are sowed only after heavy rains in upland mandals like Jaggampeta, Gandepalli, Rangampeta, Prattipadu, Tuni and others, farmers informed. If the plants are too mature by then, it may not work for sowing.

Farmers pointed out that even if plants are sowed, yield may be low. They said that Pushkara Lift Irrigation Scheme is not fully functioning and the upland areas have to rely on rain even for sowing. Due to the non-granting of full funds to contractors, maintenance work of Pushkara water scheme was not done properly. This situation has arisen due to lack of advance planning for Kharif and lack of attention to Pushkar upliftment scheme. Farmers complained that even minimum repairs and maintenance works are not being done in connection with Pushkara water scheme and this situation has been going on for seven years.

Farmers said that they faced many problems due to water scarcity at the end of last year’s paddy cultivation. “Our long wait for Pushkar water was of no use. We saved paddy crop from drying due to unexpected rains,” they added.

A farmer, K Srinivasa Rao, said that they are hoping to get water supply according to advance plan, keeping in mind the troubles faced last year. As this did not happen, this time the problems started from the time of sowing itself, he noted.