Vagaries of monsoon impact cropping patterns in South

Incessant rains in some parts of the southern States, and deficit rains in other areas, resulted in inconsistent agriculture spread and crop damage in certain locations.

Due to excess rains in some parts of Kerala, there have been instances of crop damage.

However, in Karnataka and Telangana, the cropped area has come down due to deficit rain.

Telanganareceived deficit rainfall of 9 per cent at 602.6 mm against the normal 663.6 mm as of September 18.

The State is a witness to 90 per cent of normal acreage at 38.77 lakh hectares against normal coverage of 43.24 lakh hectares (lh).

Crop cultivation Cultivation of crops such as horsegram, bajra, ragi, castor and chillies is lower than the average coverage of last year. Paddy, maize, redgram, greengram, blackgram and turmeric are in the range of 76 to 100 per cent of the normal coverage. Cotton has seen more than 100 per cent coverage, but the coverage is low due to deficit rainfall.

A National Agromet Advisory Service bulletin, valid for September 15 to 20, said that farmers in Kerala should avoid the harvesting of Virippu rice in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts in view of a heavy rainfall outlook.

Central, western zone In the central zone, the advisory warned that continuous rain could trigger the sigatoka disease in banana. In Tamil Nadu, farmers in the Cauvery delta were told to continue direct sowing/transplanting of thaladi and samba rice.

In the western zone, proper drainage should be provided for all crops to avoid water logging and the incidence of root rot disease. Land preparation may be done at optimum moisture levels for the North-East monsoon sowing.

Propping should be given for early season and mid-season planted canes against lodging in view of anticipated high winds.

Towards the south of Tamil Nadu, drought-tolerant and pest- and disease-resistant varieties should be selected for sowing during the ensuing North-East monsoon season under rain-fed conditions.

In the high altitude and hilly zone, drainage facilities should be created in the field to drain out excess water.

Karnataka’s cumulative rainfall during June 1 to September 16 has recorded 11 per cent deficit rain at 663 mm against 748 mm, classified under normal category, by a senior official of the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre.

In the coastal region, Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts saw normal rainfall, while it was deficit in Dakshina Kannada.

Karnataka’s kharif coverage is down 13.69 per cent at 59.7 lakh hectares (lh) against the 69.17 lh covered last year.

For the year 2017-18, the State has fixed a target of 73 lh.

Officials at the Karnataka Agriculture Department attribute the decline in kharif crop area to deficient rainfall in a few key pulses-growing areas. On the whole, as on September 11, sowing status was above normal in five districts and normal in 25 districts.

Cereals, oilseeds The total area under cereals is up by 3.22 per cent at 32.28 lh (31.27 lh). On the pulses front, actual coverage is severely down by 30.98 per cent at 12.56 lh, compared with 18.2 lh in the same period last year.

The coverage of oilseeds is down by 7.57 per cent at 9.52 lh (10.3 lh). On the cash crop front, it is 20.95 per cent higher at 11.37 lh (9.4 lh).

With inputs from Anil Urs in Bengaluru and Vinson Kurian in Thiruvananthapuram

COMMENT NOW