Karnataka - Hassan   

Early rains encourage Hassan farmers to sow potato

By Our Staff Correspondent

HASSAN, MAY 27. Agriculture operations, which were affected on account of successive droughts in Hassan district, have picked up, thanks to the pre-monsoon showers in April. Farmers, who were in distress for the past three years, are now engaged in sowing.

The farmers are keen on sowing potato tubers. Traders at the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) yard are doing brisk business of potato tubers. According to the farmers, the weather was congenial for the cultivation of potato.

Except Arkalgud and Channarayapatna taluks, all the six taluks in the district recorded the highest rainfall in the last 10 years in April. As against the average rainfall of 55 mm during April, the district received 107.2 mm rainfall this April. The rainfall received in various taluks in the district during April (in millimetres) is: Alur (124), Arkalgud (100), Arsikere (68.5), Belur (138.5), Channarayapatna (80), Hassan (154), Holenarsipur (85) and Sakleshpur (154.6). The district also received good rain during May and the farmers are expecting a good monsoon.

According to sources, the southwest monsoon, which has already hit Kerala coast, is likely to enter the southern parts of the State in the next three days, much ahead of the schedule. The district is expected to have normal monsoon this year.

Pre-monsoon crops such as jowar, maize, green gram, spring beans, sesame seeds and tobacco are being cultivated in more than 8,300 hactares of land in the district. Sources in the Agriculture Department said that the condition of crops, which had been sown in anticipation of a good monsoon, was good.

Seed distribution

The department in a release said that seeds distribution had been taken up under the Natural Calamity Relief Fund. Small and marginal farmers could procure the seeds at half the price. Sufficient quantity of seeds had been stored in the Raitha Samparka Kendras. Farmers could procure the seeds by producing the certificates issued by the Revenue Department, it said.

Farmers would take up sowing of ragi and paddy crops in the last week of June and about 5,380 and 4,000 quintals of seeds respectively were required. Since only 1,680 quintals of paddy seeds and 1,930 quintals of ragi seeds were available, the seeds would be supplied on demand. Sowing of paddy had been taken up in Malnad taluks, including Sakleshpur and Belur, the release added.

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