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The agriculture sector in Andhra Pradesh is in for a disaster for the second successive year. With monsoon failing to turn up on time and spread evenly across the State, almost all the major crops – barring cotton and maize – are facing the prospect of a complete rout.
About 550 mandals, or half of the mandals in the State, are facing drought-like scenario which shows the gravity of the situation. Well into the kharif season, the State still has a deficit of 10 per cent.
Seven out of the 22 districts reported a shortfall in rain of up to 60 per cent. All major reservoirs reported a steep fall in storage levels. While Nagarjunasagar shows a storage level of 132 tmc as against 301 tmc the same week last year, Srisailam with 85 tmc (240 tmc) Somasila with 26 tmc (45 tmc), Nizamsagar 2.50 tmc (12 tmc) and Yeleru 7.33 tmc (14 tmc) reflect the seriousness.
Though official figures put the total area sown in the State at 65 lakh hectares or 81 per cent of the normal area of 80 lakh hectares, leaders of farmers’ associations say that the actual health of the sown area is in a bad shape.
“Groundnut is a perfect example. The crop is going to be a disaster this time. Farmers are continuing to sow in order to not to miss out a season. They know well that the outlook is very bleak,” a senior official in the Ministry of Agriculture admitted.
This situation, in fact, holds good for several other crops as well. Paddy, red gram, chillies, onion, turmeric, sunflower and sesamum – all were hit very badly.
Cotton gains
“It is only cotton that is doing very well. The acreage went up by 33 per cent. to 20.60 lakh ha as against the as-on-date area of 17.50 lakh hectares last year. Fortunately, there is no shortage of seeds,” P. Sateesh Kumar, President of Seedsmen Association of Andhra Pradesh, said.
Only Telangana could surpass the normal sown area with 35.13 lakh hectares as against the as-on-date average of 32.27 lakh hectares. Coastal Andhra reported sowings in 15.85 lakh hectares (19.50 lakh hectares). Rayalaseema too recorded only 75 per cent of the normal sown area of 16.71 lakh hectares at 13.85 lakh hectares.
>kurmanath.kanchi@thehindu.co.in
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