Vijayawada: Poor rains hit kharif sowing season

Vijayawada: Despite a fairly good forecast predicted by the Indian Meteorological Department, the Krishna district experienced heat-wave conditions till the third week of June. This delayed the agricultural activities that set off the kharif season otherwise.

After the IMD's prediction, there was some ray of hope as the Krishna district experienced a few showers during June. Though the weather office said that June rainfall was normal, it was not sufficient to take up sowing activity aggressively. The rainfall recorded by the end of fourth week of June was 86 mm which is far below the expectations to take up sowing activities

The Agriculture department had prepared an action plan for cultivation of crops of 1.82 lakh hectares. Till now, sowing of seeds was completed in only 2,478 hectares in the Krishna district. Extensive rainfall is the need of the hour to meet the requirements of the farmers.

The Irrigation department released water to the Krishna delta on June 10. But, the water is not reaching the tail-end areas of the Divi Seema region. It will take some more days for the farmers to start sowing, according to an official.

Joint Director of Agriculture J Manohara Rao said paddy is the most important crop with a crop area of 1.75 lakh hectares. "Sugarcane, black gram and turmeric are other important crops during kharif. He The sowing of seeds is yet to pick up in the district. The situation is the same in the NTR district too," he said. Krishna and NTR districts have registered severe summer this year. NTR district too recorded poor rainfall this month. Average rainfall during June will be 103 mm. The NTR district recorded only 52 mm till Tuesday. Farmers of NTR district too are eagerly waiting for the rains. Farmers upstream of the Prakasam barrage depend on the monsoon for cultivation of crops due to lack of canal irrigation.