High hope and satisfaction pervade the farmlands in the rain-fed tail-end Chittoor district, which received the right amount of ‘excess’ rains this kharif season, a phenomenon considered to have returned to the drought-prone region after a decade.
From June last year till January 2021, normal to excess rainfall was witnessed, leading to a healthy groundwater table, which helped the farmers going in for the prime crops of groundnut, sugarcane and paddy. All the four vital months for kharif from June witnessed tolerably excess rains at 20%, covering all the 66 mandals, including the perennially drought-prone Madanapalle division.
Groundnut was sown in about 1.4 lakh hectares, paddy in about 20,000 and sugarcane in about 15,000.
Agriculture officials say that the early onset of the southwest monsoon this year has encouraged farmers to intensify farm operations and increase the acreage. Several parts of Chittoor revenue division, particularly Gudipala, Irala, Tavanampalle and Chittoor mandals experienced a healthy precipitation status.
Favourable conditions
The surge in groundwater table also helped mango and tomato growers in Chittoor and Madanapalle divisions with good yields this year. The favourable climatic conditions led to a substantial increase in vegetable cultivation in Palamaner and Kuppam regions. Good inflows into Krishnapuram, Araniyar, Kalyani and other small reservoirs, apart from 40% of the village tanks, came as a big support to the farm sector.
Joint Director (Agriculture) S. Dorasani says, “The kharif season in Chittoor district has brought bumper yields to farmers.”
The problems such as crop damage, inundation of fields and low yields were invisible this year. “Already the harvesting season of the groundnut crop is on and will be over by the next couple of weeks. This year we distributed 80,000 quintals of seeds and sowing was done in time,” Ms. Dorasani explains.
