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| Tilling the land with tractor at Romankasa in Narnoon mandal in district |
The prevailing dry conditions hit the agriculture operations for Kharif on various accounts. The temperatures are rising before the onset of monsoons which were one –week delay.
Temperatures between 44- 45 degree Celsius recorded in the district for the last one week.
People are staying at homes whenever possible and roads wore a deserted look. The brief spell of rains struck ten days ago brought some respite to the people for few days.
The news of one –week delay in entering the monsoon disappointed many farmers.
Half of the farmers have not begun agriculture operations for Kharif due to high temperatures recorded, heatwaves and were waiting for a spell of rain to bring down the temperatures.
Some of the small and marginal farmers who had sold their cows due to lack of fodder and shortage of drinking water are now taking cattle for rent for agriculture operations.
On the other hand, some farmers fell in a dilemma over cultivation of cotton and not yet decided whether to cultivate cotton or traditional crops for Kharif in the wake of the campaign against the cotton cultivation by the state government.
The state government will supply seeds of soya and pulses on subsidy to encourage cultivation of these crops but it is not sure whether state government will supply seeds sufficiently.
Jangil Dashrath of Ichoda said, still 50 percent of farmers have not started agriculture operations particularly ploughing fields as they were waiting for a brief spell of rain so that the hard soil become lose and ploughing will go deeper into the soil and easier to do in less time.
Small and marginal farmers were not in a position to start the agriculture operation due to the poor financial position following the successive droughts and they are looking at intermediaries and private moneylenders for loans even at exorbitant interests.
