Vijayawada: Full reservoirs raise rabi hopes in Krishna delta

Vijayawada: The full water levels in reservoirs in Krishna basin raises hopes among farmers on rabi cultivation, particularly in Krishna delta. Indeed, rabi season was also important crop season Krishna delta farmers in the past but the state government banned cultivation almost one decade ago in view of low water levels in reservoirs.

Since then the water scarcity in Krishna river has forced farmers to go for cultivation of pulses instead of paddy in rabi season. But now agriculture experts are opine that the government should take a decision to revive rabi officially as reservoirs are full of water.

Generally, rabi season begins from December onwards. But the state government has not announce any specific rabi crop plan so far even though sufficient water is available in Krishna river.

Paddy used be cultivated in nearly five lakh acre in Krishna delta and 10 lakh acre under Nagarjunasagar right main canal during rabi season. Nearly 50 tmcft water is needed for paddy cultivation in the rabi season. Apart from this, 20 tmcft is required for drinking water needs under Krishna delta for the next summer season.

Now the reservoirs like Pulichintala, Nagarjunasagar and Srisailam are almost to the brim after receiving huge inflows due to heavy rains in upstream states. As much as 42 tmcft water is available in the Pulichintala project alone as against its full storage capacity of 45 tmcft.

In total, 510 tmcft water is available in the two important reservoirs of Nagarjunasagar and Srisailam.

In fact, paddy cultivation in rabi is more profitable compared to paddy cultivation in kharif season in Krishna delta which covers Krishna, Guntur, West Godavari and Prakasam districts.

Paddy worth nearly Rs 3,000 crore is produced from these areas in the past. But the farmers could not cultivate paddy in rabi season for the last one decade. The previous governments announced crop holidays officially for five seasons.

A Venkatappa Reddy, a model farmer, said that the government could announce rabi plan for this season by reviving the previous tradition. It is possible when the sufficient water is available in Krishna river, he opined. The farmers usually cultivate the paddy where the bore water is available in the district, said former deputy executive engineer of irrigation department D Madhusudana Rao. He also said that this is the best time to revive the paddy cultivation in rabi season.