Kharif Outlook: Cyclones spout excess rainfall, but farmers wait & watch to begin sowing ops

Even with cyclones Tauktae and Yaas, respectively, hitting the western and eastern coasts in the second fifty percent of previous thirty day period and bringing rains to key components, farmers prefer to hold out and view right before starting Kharif sowing operations.

A team of farmers near Indore in Madhya Pradesh say that they would not start off sowing right before June 20 and would prefer to get abide by on showers right before starting Kharif farming operations.

The farmers concur that they have obtained some showers in May well, thanks to Cyclone Tauktae impact, but they would not hurry to start off farming operations.

Related is the considered amid farmers in Rajasthan. The farmers’ decision to hold out and view, in fact, looks to be reasonable given the late start off to South-West Monsoon and its preliminary stage lacking vigour.

Surplus rainfall

In accordance to Skymet weather, both equally cyclones had resulted in excessive rainfall for the pre-monsoon interval from March one to May well 29.

GP Sharma, President, Meteorology and Local weather Adjust at Skymet Climate, explained to BusinessLine that Gujarat obtained a phenomenal one,078 per cent, Madhya Pradesh 293 per cent,Uttar Pradesh 206 per cent, and Maharashtra 110 per cent excessive pre-monsoon rainfall.

But he arrived up with a caveat that farmers would have a superior evaluation of the subsequent spell of rain just after sowing and mere soil humidity on your own would not do.

“At greatest, it can maintain for a few days. It is pretty necessary that they get this spell just after a week or 10 days,” Sharma said.

Cyclone Tauktae also boosted pre-monsoon rainfall in Karnataka by raising the in general precipitation in May well by fifty three per cent forty four per cent for the March one-May well 29 interval. Rainfall for the duration of May well in the Karnataka coastal region was larger by 177 per cent, in the Malnad region by 77 per cent and northern components of the point out by 47 per cent.

Reservoir concentrations

The elevated rainfall spurred the farming activities these types of as land planning and tilling, when supplying a fillip to the sowing of kharif crops.

On the other hand, the cyclones have not helped improve the storage amount in the one hundred thirty significant reservoirs in the nation. Facts from the Central Water Commission exhibit that the storage in the reservoirs is reduced than previous yr. On Thursday, the drinking water amount in the reservoirs was forty nine.356 billion cubic metres (BCM) or 28 per cent of full dwell storage as opposed with fifty seven.044 BCM or 33 per cent of the full dwell storage on Thursday.

In accordance to BV Mehta, Government Director, Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA), the cyclones may well help those people who acquire up early sowing of oilseed crops these types of as groundnut.

Saurashtra, the groundnut bowl, was impacted by cyclone Tauktae and normally farmers in Saurashtra get access to drinking water by way of rain or canal. Through Cyclone Tauktae, Saurashtra witnessed significant winds, not significant rains.

A dampener in Saurashtra

The excessive rainfall rains and drinking water-logging in the fields next cyclone Tauktae has dampened kharif sowing prospective clients in components of Gujarat, significantly in Saurashtra and south Gujarat. Farmer resources said that far more than the drinking water-logging, electricity outages thanks to the cyclonic storm have disturbed kharif sowing of cotton and groundnut designs of the farmers.”The precedence is to restore electricity for homes in the villages. The electricity supply for agriculture is currently being restored little by little,” said an formal of the electricity distribution business educated.This is causing a hold off in the sowing of kharif crops, primarily cotton and groundnut. “At existing the aid work is heading on for the villagers. This has delayed the kharif sowing and we believe that it will decide on-up the speed in direction of the conclude of June,” said Vitthal Dudhatara, President – Bhartiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) – Gujarat region.

Farmers have initiated early sowing of groundnut, but so much there are no formal figures on the onset of kharif sowing in Gujarat, a good indication that Tauktae has not advanced the sowing in the Condition.

A diverse story

The story in Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, both equally impacted by cyclone Yaas, is a wee little bit diverse.

“We have some challenges in coastal regions. So, we are striving to enumerate and restore the harm brought on by the ingression of saline drinking water from the sea. That is our issue. Otherwise, kharif sowing will be as per our prepare,” said an formal of the Bengal Section of Agriculture

Though the cyclone Yaas resulted in considerable rains in some components of Andhra Pradesh, farmers do not have any designs to advance the kharif sowings. “Sowings usually start off just after June 15 in the Godavari delta regions and in the subsequent few months in other components of the Condition,” Keshava Rao, President of Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangham, said.

On the other hand, groundnut farmers of Rayalaseema have begun sowings in regions below borewells.

“We start off work on the fields in the 3rd week of June no matter if or not monsoon arrives,” Ch Purnachandra Rao, a Srikakulam (Andhra Pradesh) farmer said.

Karnataka, Maharashtra

In Karnataka, sowing of essential kharif crops these types of as cotton, groundnut, inexperienced gram and maize amid many others have begun in Karnataka. In accordance to officials in the Karnataka Condition Agriculture Section, kharif crops have been sown in about three.05 lakh hectares (lh) till May well 31 this yr as opposed with two.ninety six lh in the same interval previous yr.

With the onset of monsoon, sowing activities are set to decide on up in the days forward as farmers are witnessed making ready for the new planting year. Karnataka is targeting an spot of 77 lakh hectare for the duration of the kharif year eyeing a foods manufacturing of a hundred thirty five lakh tonnes.

In Maharashtra, farmers in the coastal region are still recovering from the effects of cyclone Tauktae.

The Condition federal government has declared that it will fork out Rs 50,000 per hectare as compensation for the decline endured by farmers in the impacted districts, which includes Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Raigad, Mumbai, Thane and Palghar.

Other components in the Condition have been given superior pre-monsoon showers and farmers are gearing up for early sowing. As stories of sowing operations are coming from some components of the Condition, the Condition Agriculture Section has appealed to farmers not to go for early sowing as it could end result in failure in germination thanks to insufficient soil humidity.

“Farmers need to not go in for sowing till the region receives eighty-100 mm rainfall. Sowing operations in the regions where by soil humidity is less would end result in crop failure and it would end result in seeds receiving squandered. Soil humidity will be superior for sowing only just after eighty-100 mm rains,” the Agriculture Section said.

In the previous kharif year, soyabean growers and seed providers ended up at loggerheads since seeds unsuccessful to germinate. Farmers claimed they ended up equipped bad top quality seeds, but seed providers argued that soya seeds need to be sown only just after 77 to 100 mm rainfall.

Final yr early rains began since of the cyclone Nisarga and farmers sowed even right before sufficient rainfall, in accordance to seed providers.

Skymet’s Sharma states two cyclones on both equally coasts ended up really unseasonal for India in May well.

Exceptions to farmers waiting around for rains could farmers in Punjab or Haryana. “Farmers there do not hold out for the monsoon to start off sowing. They have confident ground drinking water or reservoirs to acquire up sowing, so they can harvest the crop as early as September,” states Sharma.

Also, the hold out and view by a the vast majority of the farmers in the nation is since the agriculture bowl of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh in central India and Punjab, Haryana and components of north Rajasthan in North-West India do not straight get impacted from a cyclone, he adds.

With contributions from Vinayak, Mangaluru Vishwanath Kulkarani, Bengaluru Television Jayan, New Delhi KV Kurmanath, Hyderabad Shobha Roy, Kolkata Rutam Vora, Ahmedabad Radheshyam Jadhav, Pune, and Subramani Ra Mancombu, Chennai

(This is part of a collection of Kharif Outlook stories that have been appearing in these columns. The stories will continue on to surface around the subsequent few days.)