The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Farmers pin hopes on kharif

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 09, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Farmers pin hopes on kharif

By G. Nagaraja

ELURU, JUNE 8. Farmers in West Godavari district, stalked by a spate of suicides and vagaries of the nature, are hopeful of bright kharif prospects. The district, a major part of which is blessed with the water-rich delta area and the rest `cursed' by the water-starved upland region, is poised to invite kharif with a mixed bag of hope and despair. While the delta farmer is sitting pretty over the prospects of water availability from the Godavari, his upland counterparts and those at the tail-end of Krishna-Eastern canal are just hoping on the arrival of monsoon. For these `less-privileged' farmers, the forecast by the weather scientists provide a silver lining. Although the district had recorded 51.3 mm of rainfall in May and 0.3 mm in June raising of seedbeds is yet to take off in both delta and upland parts.

Of the total cultivable area of 2,54, 378 hectares in the district, a major chunk of 1,58,210 hectares is covered by the Godavari western delta while 53,280 hectares falls under borewells, 28,220 hectares under minor irrigation tanks and 14,668 hectares under Krishna-Eastern canal.

Agriculture proved quite risky for the farmers covered by borewells and minor irrigation tanks due to recurring crop failure on account of acute drought conditions for the last three years in succession. Similar was the fate of the farmers falling under the KE canal, thanks to the over-exploitation of the Krishna water by farmers in Karnataka upstream. When the farmers falling under the tail-end of KE canal got adequate water in rabi and expected a bumper crop, the untimely cyclone dashed their hopes. This grim picture on the agriculture front proved to be a `fertile ground' for suicide by farmers in the otherwise prosperous paddy-rich district.

As per the official data provided by the Joint Director, Agriculture Department, Janardhan Reddy, as many as seven farmers committed suicide in different parts of the district till June 7 in a span of three weeks. However, unofficial reports put the figure at nine.

Meanwhile, the Superintending Engineer, Dhavaleswaram Barrage, B.V. Prakasa Rao, has said that paddy cultivation in the Godavari delta in the current kharif is quite a smooth affair, given the bountiful of inflows in the Godavari. He exuded confidence that sufficient water from the river will be supplied to the whole ayacut of the central, eastern and western Godavari delta for kharif.

He has said the inflow in the river at Dhaveleswaram Barrage was recorded at 8,000 cusecs in June first week this year as against mere 1,100 cusecs during the corresponding period last year.

Mr. Rao appeals to the delta farmers to go in for raising seedbeds early this time since there is no problem for water availability in the river.

The Joint Director, Agriculture, has said an action plan, proposing paddy cultivation over 2.41 lakh hectares and over irrigation dry crops on 5,000 hectares in the district, has been devised and sent to the Government for approval.

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