Dasari Srinivasa Rao
Vijayawada
Paddy sowing in the Kharif season is facing a setback due to the delayed arrival of the South-West monsoon and a deficit in rainfall. Currently, only 1 lakh hectares of paddy transplantation has been completed, a mere 6.5% of the normal season area of 15.52 lakh hectares. This falls far short of the expected progress, which should have reached 57% completion by this time.
Typically, the paddy target area during the Kharif season is 15.88 lakh hectares, but this year it stands at around 15.51 lakh hectares. In an effort to promote early paddy sowing and protect crops from potential floods in October and November, the State government has released water into canals one month in advance for the past two years. However, compared to the previous year, paddy planting is lagging behind due to delayed rainfall.
According to officials from the Agricultural Department, farmers in various districts are still busy preparing nurseries as they await the arrival of rains. Currently, the total area sown in the state stands at 2.41 lakh hectares (7%) compared to the normal area of 34.39 lakh hectares. The normal area for this time of year should be around 5.23 lakh hectares, which represents 46% completion.
This year, paddy sowing has covered 1 lakh hectares, whereas the figure for the previous year was 89,585 hectares. In Krishna district alone, 17,133 hectares (10%) have been dedicated to paddy plantation, out of a total of 1,68,459 hectares in this Kharif season. Last year, the figure for the same period was 6,373 hectares, officials reported.
Similarly, Srikakulam district reported 8,767 hectares, Parvathipuram Manyam district reported 2,162 hectares, East Godavari reported 2,981 hectares, West Godavari reported 1,610 hectares, and Eluru registered 2,538 hectares of paddy plantation so far. Insufficient irrigation water remains a primary obstacle in speeding up paddy transplantation in the remaining districts, sources revealed.
In contrast, paddy was sown early in the SPSR Nellore and Tirupati districts. Approximately 37,980 hectares (80%) in SPSR Nellore and 24,364 hectares (71%) in Tirupati are now in the vegetative stage. Additionally, early-sown crops such as pulses, groundnut, sesamum, cotton, and sugarcane are also at the vegetative stage, while redgram is currently being sown. Cotton is cultivated across 53,874 hectares, sugarcane across 9,566 hectares, and maize across 13,550 hectares.
