Paddy harvesting has gained traction across the district where nearly 100,000 hectares of land was brought under paddy cultivation this year.
K.R.Nagar, T.Narsipur, parts of Mysuru and Nanjangud are the key paddy cultivating taluks and almost 80 per cent of the harvesting has been completed in K.R.Nagar.
Joint Director of Agriculture Mahanteshappa said that good rains during the monsoon preceded by pre-monsoon showers helped the major reservoirs of the region get filled to the brim this year and was instrumental in extending the crop to 1 lakh hectares.
There were concerns during the beginning of the kharif season that the target for agriculture could not be met as the country was under a lockdown due to the pandemic and farming activity would be affected.
But there was semblance of normalcy due to the graded unlocking and agricultural activity gained momentum after the initial uncertainty caused by labour scarcity and the imperatives of ensuring social distancing.
Mr.Mahanteshappa said paddy is a water-intensive crop cultivated on irrigated land and hence availability of water in the reservoir is the key criteria before the farmers opt for it. In 2018 farmers were discouraged from cultivating paddy due to water stress and uncertainty over its release from the reservoirs due to relatively poor storage.
With the focus shifting to harvesting, the Agriculture Department has procured combined harvesting machines for the benefit of the farmers. “There are 33 hoblis in Mysuru district and the department has procured 10 of these harvesters as paddy is not cultivated in all the hoblis. Besides, each of these harvesters cost around ₹25 lakh and is being made available to the farmers on a nominal rental basis.”
Only 10 per cent of the harvest takes place manually and 75 per cent of the farmers have shifted to mechanized harvesting to save both labour cost and time, according to Mr. Mahanteshappa.
Contrary to the popular perception that mechanisation will render the landless labourers jobless, he said labour was hard to come by as bulk of traditional agricultural workers were shifting to other vocations including construction sector. “This has given a fillip to mechanisation of farming activities. For paddy cultivation, almost 80 per cent of the work including preparing the land is done through mechanised means.’
Post-harvest, farmers will take up Rabi or winter crops and though agricultural activity ebbs in winter almost 67,000 hectares has been brought under crop cover this year. This is against a normal of 53,000 hectares and is above the target of 61,000 hectares set for this year. The Rabi crop coverage last year was 63,000 hectares and horse gram, millets, and maize apart from a few other short duration crops for domestic consumption are cultivated. None of these crops are water-intensive and the winter dew provides adequate moisture for the crops to sustain and grow, according to the officials.
