Rains hit kharif crops in southern States

Incessant to heavy rains for over the past week have caused extensive damage to crops in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and parts of North Eastern Karnataka.

Initial estimates have pegged the crop losses on about five lakh hectares in these three States.

While 1.5 lakh hectares of crop was damaged in Telangana, about one lakh hectares of crop was damaged in Andhra Pradesh, impacting paddy, cotton, redgram and maize. Though the rains have hit almost all of the districts of Telangana, Warangal, Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Ranga Reddy districts bore the brunt of the fury. Telangana has formed nine teams to assess the extent of the damage in the State.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao, however, expressed hope that there was no instance of crops being washed away by flood waters. “It’s only water logging. Once flood water recedes, there will be no damage to crops,” he said, after taking stock of the situation. Though kharif crops have been hit, the government is happy because all the irrigation projects is fully of water that will come handy for the upcoming rabi season.

In Karnataka, crops such as tur (red gram), urad and soyabean on over two lakh hectares — mainly in Bidar and Kalburgi (Gulbarga) districts have been affected. “We feel that about 25 per cent of the 4 lakh hectares in Kalburgi has been affected by the excess rains,” said Basavaraj Ingin, President of Karnataka Tur Growers Association. The State government, according to initial estimates, has pegged the crop loss in an area of around 1 lakh hectares in Kalburgi, while it was higher at around 1.5 lakh hectares in Bidar district.

Excess rains over past few days in Telangana, AP and other regions have largely reduced the cumulative monsoon deficit to around 3 per cent from around 7 per cent a week ago.

Meanwhile, the soyabean harvest has commenced in Madhya Pradesh, while it is ready for harvest in Maharashtra. Prakash Vora, a trader in Indore, said there have been sporadic reports of damage to the soyabean crop in Madhya Pradesh on account of recent rains. A major part of the soyabean crop in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan is in good condition, but it has suffered extensive damages in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana due to heavy rains in those States.

Currently, new soyabean (with moisture content of 15-25 per cent) is being quoted at ₹2,400-2,800 a quintal. Given the Central government’s move to reduce import duty on oils, as of now rally in soyabean appears unlikely, Vora told BusinessLine.

The latest spell of rains is seen being beneficial to cotton in Central India even as it has suffered damage in Telangana. “The rains will have a positive impact on cotton and will boost the yields,” said KR Kranthi, Director of the Nagpur-based Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR). Cotton is currently in the peak flowering and boll formation stages in states such as Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. “Though the rains may extend the crop cycle, farmers have to manage pink bollworms,” he added.

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