DHARWAD
Along with several other districts across Karnataka, Dharwad received copious rain in May, in a precursor to the monsoon. The bounteous rainfall that the district received ahead of the onset of the monsoon drove sowing for the kharif crop. While the agriculture department set a target of achieving sowing of kharif crop across 2.72 lakh hectares, farmers across Dharwad are very close to reaching this target, having completed sowing in 2.34 lakh hectares. Most of the farmers have predominantly planted green gram on their fields.
Unlike in 2022, rainfall in May in the preceding years was below the normal quantum that the district is supposed to receive. Undeterred by the lack of rain in the pre-monsoon season, the farmers had gone ahead with sowing. Unfortunately, heavy showers in the last leg of the monsoon season resulted in their incurring massive losses, while others lost their harvest owing to untimely showers.
Notwithstanding the considerable fluctuation in the quota of rainfall that the district has been receiving in the month of May for the past five years, the heavy showers that lashed the district prior to the monsoon have spurred the farmers to go ahead with sowing. In fact, the farmers appear not too worried by the lack of adequate rainfall in June, and, in the hope that the monsoon will turn brisk in July, are proceeding apace. While Dharwad district received 269.7mm rainfall between January 1 and May 31 – 15% higher than its normal quota for the period – it received only 89.2mm in June, an 18% deficit. Kundagol and Kalghatagi taluks, in particular, have borne the brunt of deficient rainfall, according to data sourced from the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC).
Experts in the agro-meteorology department at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, pointed out that, while deficit rainfall could have a debilitating effect on the crops in the southern parts of the state, the crops traditionally cultivated in North Karnataka would not suffer as much. Furthermore, farmers can expect good tidings, with light showers being reported across the district.
The monsoon is yet to become fully active in the district, but the farmers can expect more rain after the first week of July, said experts.
