With good rain, sowing expected to exceed target in north Karnataka

Farmers in the districts of Kalyana Karnataka and Kittur Karnataka are upbeat over the prospects of a good monsoon, following good spells of rain in the last couple of days.

Farmers in the districts of Kalyana Karnataka and Kittur Karnataka are upbeat over the prospects of a good monsoon, following good spells of rain in the last couple of days.

While such rains have caused problems for residents in the low-lying areas of towns and cities in the form of inundation and choked drains, farmers, who had suffered severe drought in the previous year, are, however, a happy lot.

Barring a few, most of the districts in both the regions have received good rainfall, and in some cases more than the average. The inflow into reservoirs has slowly increased.

“Farmers are preparing lands for sowing red gram, cotton, and chilli in rain-fed areas. Farmers along Tungabhadra Left Bank Canal (TLBC) in Koppal and Raichur districts have also started raising paddy saplings in nursery beds, hoping to get Tungabhadra waters from the reservoir by July,” Chamarasa Malipatil, honorary president of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, told The Hindu.

The coverage under red gram, a major crop of Kalyana Karnataka region, is likely to exceed the target this kharif season as farmers are expecting a better price.

Though the Agriculture Department has set a sowing target of 5.93 lakh hectares in Kalaburagi, the district may increase red gram cultivation by 50,000 ha as per Joint Director for Agriculture Samad Patel. The price of the produce is likely to rise to ₹12,000 or ₹ 13,000 a quintal.

Farmers’ activist Sharanabasappa Mamshetty said that most of the farmers were switching over to soybean and cotton in parts of Kalaburagi and Bidar districts. The area under short-term crops, such as green gram and black gram, is also expected to exceed the target.