The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Kharif brings a bumper yield

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Wednesday, Dec 26, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Kharif brings a bumper yield

S. Harpal Singh

Adilabad farmers happy as all major crops record high growth

Fertile gains: A farmer and his mother seem contented because of the excellent yield in kharif season in Adilabad.

ADILABAD: Agriculture in Adilabad district this kharif season is perhaps what governments dream of. Statistics related to the economics culled by the Agriculture Department provide a good reason for farmers to celebrate.

At optimal investment, high to bumper yields were recorded for all major crops and with price for all the varieties staying in excess of the minimum support price (MSP) throughout the season, farmers are laughing their way to the banks. “I have not seen such a good season for decades,” summed up C. Narsingu, Agriculture Officer at Adilabad.

Production and productivity this season are being bandied about by the Agriculture Department. While cotton and soya have weaved a tremendous success story, other crops like jowar, maize and pulses were no less money spinners.

Jowar, sown in about 21,000 hectares gave yields of about 20 quintals per hectare while the expenditure incurred by the farmer was about Rs. 8,000 for such area. Even if farmers sold their produce at the MSP of Rs. 640 per quintal, they are estimated to have made a profit of Rs. 4,600 per hectare.

Neat profit

Maize too sold for Rs. 640 per quintal this season, that was its MSP. It was sown in over 17,000 hectares yielding as high as 30 quintals of the crop per hectare. Farmers had spent about Rs. 11,000 per hectare on raising the crop. They made a neat profit of Rs. 8,200 per hectare as per the estimates of the Agriculture Department.

For cotton farmers, the kharif was a replica of the season in 1994-95. Bumper yields and good price has produced a windfall for them.

Cotton was sown in 2.10 lakh hectares and high yields of 18 quintals at minimum expenditure of about Rs. 19,000 per hectare were registered. At the average price of Rs. 2,100 per quintal, farmers are expected to have made a profit of about Rs. 19,000. The entire cotton produce in Adilabad district is being valued at over Rs. 775 crore. Half of this amount is the profit that cotton farmers have made this season.

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