Cotton, pulses crops reel under flood fury

Mahabubnagar: The farmers who had sown cotton and pulses have incurred heavy losses to the tune of Rs 400 crore due to incessant rains in the Palamur region spread across the five districts of Mahabubnagar, Nagarkurnool, Narayapet, Wanaparthy and Gadwal.

Particularly this Kharif season, the monsoons began at a slower note and the cotton farmers who had sown the seeds earlier faced germination problems. After that it rained incessantly, resulting in erosion of fertility and mineral strength of soil. It has become for the plants that are yet in the nascent stage, and even if they grow, their health and productivity would be severely affected, observed Praveen Kumar, an assistant professor of agriculture department at Palem in Nagarkurnool district.

It is estimated that the cotton crop has been sown over an extent of 15 lakh acres this Kharif season. The farmers were already burdened by additional Rs 50,000 burden per acre to raise the crop. "This season we had to sow two times as the first time sown seeds did not germinate due to lack of water and those which germinated turned yellow during the recent rains. We had to face heavy losses at the sowing stage and other costs like labour and tilling costs. We are worried about the crop failure now, as we will have to incur heavy debts," said Govind Goud of Guvvala Dinne in Gadwal district.

A cotton farmer from Nagulapally village of Pedda Kottapally in Nagarkurnool district said he had sown cotton in over 6 acres and had already spent Rs 50,000 for weeding. However, due to heavy rains the crop has been damaged. They are turning red and will not grow properly, said a worried Sudhakar Reddy from Nagulapally.

Farmers are afraid that heavy rains will impact the final yield of crops like cotton and pulses. The yields of cotton per acre are usually estimated to be around 15-20 quintals. They might fall to just 5 quintals, they said. In view of this, the farmers from the Palamuru region are urging the government to assess crop damage due to rains and compensate them suitably.