Although rains have abated during the day in most parts of the old undivided Khammam district on Wednesday, the heavy rains that lashed Khammam and Bhadradri-Kothagudem districts in the last few days led to inundation of cotton and paddy crops in little over 3,607 acres in both the districts.
As per the preliminary estimates by the Agriculture Department, crops including paddy and cotton in around 1,887 acres were damaged in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district, affecting as many as 1,393 farmers. Farmers in Julurupadu, Burgampadu, Sujathanagar, Tekulapalli and Palvancha mandals bore the maximum brunt of the rain fury, sources said. In Khammam district, crops, mainly paddy and cotton, were inundated by rainwater in around 1,720 acres.
Heavy rains over the past three days caused significant damage to cotton and paddy crops besides chilli seedlings, mainly in Tirumalayapalem, Kusumanchi, Mudigonda and Madhira mandals. The extensive waterlogging in agricultural fields, some of which still remained under a sheet of water in various villages in Khammam and Sattupalli divisions, is likely to affect the crop yield. Chilli farmers in the chilli growing belt of the district are worried over their crop prospects in the current kharif season as heavy rains damaged chilli seedlings in several villages in Kusumanchi, Nelakondapalli, Khammam rural and Tirumalayapalem mandals.
As per the Kharif action plan, area sown under chilli is expected to increase to little over 56,000 acres in this Kharif season as against the last year’s acreage of around 55,000 acres in Khammam district.
