The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Delay in release of water worries farmers

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Saturday, Jun 25, 2011
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Delay in release of water worries farmers

G.V.R. Subba Rao

GHANTASALA (Krishna Dt.): The paddy cultivation in the district has taken a back seat due to delay in release of water into canals from the Prakasam Barrage. The farmers would have completed nursery operations by now had the water been released by June 15. The water would have reached tail end by June 20 and farmers completed nursery operations if Irrigation Department had stuck to the original schedule. The nursery operations would have been completed by June –end and sowing would take another week thereafter. This year farming operations cycle got pushed by a fortnight.

It is likely to have a cascading effect on quality and production of paddy. The farmers tend to opt for coarse variety of rice as it grows faster compared to varieties like 1061. The farmers, however, prefer varieties like BPT and 1017 keeping in view the second crop (Rabi season).

Usually the paddy is cultivated by now, as if the crops are sowed later there are chances of insects destroying the crop, they feel. “We prefer to complete the Kharif crop at any cost by second week of November, and keep the land ready for Rabi by November 20,” explains A. Basaveswara Rao, a farmer in Kothapalli village in Ghantasala mandal.

The State government hardly procures 1017 and BPT rice. Even the people do not prefer purchasing the 1017 and BPT as the rice is coarse, he says.

Farmers like Ramana of the same village explain that the yield and quality is less in varieties like 1017 and the BPT. The yield in 1061 would be not less than 35 bags, while other varieties would be around 20 to 30 bags per acre, they say.

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