Southern States - Andhra Pradesh   

Many farmers plump for sunflower crop

By Our Staff Reporter

KURNOOL Sept. 14. Sunflower and Bengalgram have emerged as the mainstay of agriculture economy of Kurnool district. Sunflower was sown on two lakh hectares as khariff and late khariff crops in the district last year. The same area is likely to be occupied by sunflower this year too. The trends indicate that it might exceed marginally this year.

About 60,000 hectares was sown during the first spell of rain in the district, which will be harvested in a month. The district administration distributed 6,000 quintals of sunflower seed at subsidised price in the district, which will be sufficient for about a lakh hectares. The total area during the late khariff phase is expected to cross 1.2 lakh hectares.

The stable prices last year, which hovered between Rs. 1,400 and Rs. 1,800 a quintal, encouraged many farmers to go for sunflower. The productivity has been around five to six quintals and under irrigated dry conditions the production touched eight quintals. Also, the short crop duration of 90 days has been the main attraction.

Similarly, the Bengalgram too caught the fancy of farmers in the district. Last year, the crop was cultivated on 1.2 lakh hectares. It is purely a rabi crop, which was sown in October. The productivity was around five quintals per acre and the prices too were stable in the last few years. The crop was being cultivated on vast stretches in Koilkuntla and other black cotton soils. The Agriculture Department proposed to distribute 30,000 quintals, sufficient for covering 60,000 hectares.

Cotton, which had a normal area of one lakh hectares, received a setback in the past few years because of pest problem and dipping prices.

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