Karnataka - Dharwad   

Rains make it gloomy for farmers

Staff Correspondent

DHARWAD: Copious rainfall in the district in the last few days has made the smile on the face of farmers disappear as the inclement weather poses a threat to the crop.

According to officials of the Department of Agriculture, it was too early to assess the crop loss but they said crops faced threat. Barring Kundagol taluk, all taluks in Dharwad district received above average rainfall till the end of June.

Kalghatgi taluk received the highest rainfall of 347.2 mm in June against the average rainfall of 270.6 mm. followed by Dharwad taluk 339.1 mm (242.8 mm), Hubli taluk 234.1 mm (213 mm) and Navalgund received a rainfall of 219.6 mm (180 mm). Kundagol taluk received a rainfall of 156.9 mm against the average of 273.9 mm.

Although incessant rains were said to be the reason for attack of pests because of dampness, the Agriculture Department officials believed that the dry spell after initial rains in May had contributed to the threat of crop loss.

Sowing had started in Hubli taluk in May.

After the initial rains, farmers had taken up sowing of soybeans. However, dry spell prevailed for the next fortnight. Now, farmers of Hubli taluk had complained about non-sprouting and consequently the Assistant Director of Agriculture sent a report to the Joint Director of Agriculture.

N.V. Chandrashekhar, Joint Director of Agriculture, told The Hindu that he had received the report and sought the help of the soybean breeders from the University of Agricultural Sciences.

He said the initial examination had revealed that the problem had been observed in cases of deep sowing of soybean seeds done in May. For getting expert opinion on the issue, soybean breeders had been asked to visit the fields, which was likely to begin in three days.

Mr. Chandrashekhar said the prolonged wet spell could damage the crops.

He said the dampness had triggered pest attack on greengram crop in Hubli, Kalghatgi and Navalgund taluk.

He said he had personally visited the fields in the three taluks.

“I reported the matter to the Commissionerate of Agriculture to release grants for the purchase of pesticides and fungicides, which would be supplied to the Raita Sampark Kendras (RSK),” he said. He said there was shortage of DAP fertiliser in the market.

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