State stares at agrarian crisis

HYDERABAD: Adverse seasonal conditions in the state over the past one year have affected 51 lakh farmers in an area of 34.24 lakh hectares, whose crop production losses have been estimated at a staggering Rs 5,747 crore.
With 878 of the 1,128 mandals in 22 districts being declared drought-hit, agriculture and revenue officials have sounded the alarm bells on the problems arising out of the ongoing drought situation in the state saying, “A grave situation prevails in the state that will not only result in an acute shortage of fodder in the ensuing months, but give rise to major productive and reproductive problems in livestock arising out of nutritional deficiencies.”
Officials said that due to less rainfall and frequent dry spells during the south-west monsoon, an extent of 34.24 lakh hectare of crop area was reportedly damaged where the yields were reduced by more than 50%.Of these, 34.24 lakh hectares, 29.74 lakh hectares belong to small and marginal farmers and 4.4 lakh hectares belong to other farmers. The crop production loss has been estimated at 31 lakh MT.
Cotton is the worst hit with an estimated crop loss in 13.65 lakh hactares, followed by groundnut in 8.91 lakh ha, paddy in 3.31 lakh ha, maize in 2.88 lakh ha, red gram in 2.41 lakh ha and castor in 1.92 lakh ha.
In terms of district-wise damage, farmers in Anantapur suffered the most with an estimated crop loss in 7.28 lakh acres, followed by Mahbubnagar (5.64 lakh acres), Adilabad (3.24 lakh acres), Kurnool (3.09 lakh acres), Nalgonda (2.33 lakh acres) and Medak (2.25 lakh acres). Nellore is the only district that has not reported any crop loss.
Agriculture minister Kanna Lakshminarayana said farmers of all regions have been advised to raise irrigated maze, sunflower and black gram as an alternative to paddy where groundwater is scarce. “During rabi 2011-12, it is expected that the sown area may marginally decrease,” he added. Officials said that the food grain production as per second advance estimate during 2011-12 has been put at 173 lakh MT against the targeted food grain production of 228.15 lakh MT.
Even fruit plantations and vegetable crops suffered in 10 districts like Kurnool, Chittoor, East Godavari, Medak, Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda, Adilabad, Anantapur, Prakasam and Rangareddy due to scanty rainfall and depletion of groundwater. The loss to small and marginal farmers is more than 50%, when compared to normal yield due to drought, said officials.