CH NWS
RAICHUR
The filling of the Tungabhadra Reservoir following good rainfall in the Western Ghats has brought relief to farmers who had feared crop failure due to inadequate rainfall. However, the situation in Sindhanur remains difficult as the taluk has received little rain, causing the dry soil to absorb large quantities of canal water and hampering paddy transplantation.
Getting water from the distributary canals to our fields is difficult. Water is being released to each field for only an hour, leaving farmers with several acres without sufficient water. Even a week after water was released into the canal, it has not reached even 10 per cent of the agricultural land in the taluk said.
Farmers said timely rainfall along with canal water would make transplantation easier. If it rains while water is available in the canal, paddy transplantation across the taluk can be completed within 15 days. The lack of rainfall has created serious difficulties, they said.
Farmers in the upper reaches of distributary canals 36, 32 and 40 under the Left Bank Canal system have started transplantation to some extent. However, water has not yet reached the tail-end areas. Farmers fear that if the situation continues, completing transplantation could take another month. They are rushing to complete the work, as any further delay could push the harvest to December or January, when cold weather may affect the crop.
Farmers believe that completing transplantation by the end of July or August is essential for securing a good yield. According to Rudragouda Mali Patil, Assistant Director of Agriculture, paddy transplantation was planned across 62,500 hectares in the taluk. However, due to the rainfall deficit and the delayed release of water into the Left Bank Canal, transplantation has so far been completed on only 1,200 hectares.