Vijayapura: Weak monsoon and scanty rains have created lines of worry on the forehead of the farmers as the District has not received copious rains in June after some good showers fell in May.
The farmers, who were expecting some rain in June which is the beginning of the monsoon, are in dismay as they are anxiously waiting for rains to start sowing operations. The farmers who had already completed sowing in hope of rain, are worried as the seeds are not receiving enough moisture for optimum germination.
According to the officials of the Agriculture Department, the average rainfall for the District in May is 38 mm but the district had some good showers and the District recorded 85 mm rains.
Though the overall rainfall by June 15 was 58 mm against the average rainfall of 50.3 mm, Taluks such as Sindagi and Devarahipparagi received 33 mm and 21 mm rains, respectively. Horti and Chadchan areas got poor rains.
After the heavy rains the District received in the second week of May, the farmers began preparing land for cultivation. Some farmers even cultivated short-term crops such as Green Gram for the rains. But after those rains fell in May, the District has not received the expected rains.
The dry spell has continued which is a sign of worry for the farmers. The sowing operation has faced hindrances as the District has not received rains in June.
Goudappa Babaleshwar, the farmer of Hittinahalli Village the Taluk said that the farmers have already procured seeds and fertilisers for sowing but in the absence of rains, they are not able to use them on farms.
“The farmers will be in great trouble if we don’t receive rain immediately,” he said.
Joint Director of Agriculture Department Rajshekhar Williams admitted that the District has not received expected rains, and therefore less than three per cent sowing has taken place in the District. As we still have time for sowing of Toor, we are hoping for some rains in the last week of June which will help in picking up sowing operations,” he said.
He said that while the District has set the target of sowing on 7.5 lakh hectares of land in Kharif but sowing has taken place on less than three per cent of land because of scanty rains. The rains will help the Toor crop as the sowing can be taken up till the second week of July, the official said.
