East Godavari district takes top slot in kharif sowing

Visakhapatnam: Nearly 40 per cent of kharif crops sowing has been done in the state till July and recent rains have given a boost to sowing in coastal region and Rayalaseema districts.According to the state agricultural department, of the total estimated area of 32.5 lakh hectare, kharif crops sowing has been completed on 12.93 lakh hectare till July 31.

Paddy, pulses, groundnut, cotton, oilseeds and millets are the major kharif crops in the state. The officials said that the kharif sowing is all set to pick up due to good rain.East Godavari district has taken a lead in kharif sowing so far as it has completed sowing 78 per cent of the total estimated area of the district, followed by Dr BR Ambedkar Konaseema (73%), Tirupati (66%), Guntur (63%), Srikakulam (59%), Kakinada (56%) and NTR district (50%).The state has recorded 34 percent excess rainfall in the first half (June and July) of the southwest monsoon, compared to the normal. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) in Amaravati, against the normal rainfall of 225.2 mm, the state received 301.4 mm rainfall from June 1 to July 31.Many parts of the coastal region and Rayalaseema districts have experienced a good amount of rainfall in the last week of July.“The recent rains have sped up sowing of kharif crops. The sowing of kharif crops will cover more areas in the coming days,” said an officer with the agriculture department.With the recent heavy rains in Andhra Pradesh and other states, all the major reservoirs -- Tungaghadra, Srisailam, Nagarjuna Sagar, Pulichintala, Veligodu Balancing reservoir, Somasila and Kandaleru -- in the state have almost touched the full and the reservoirs is holding around 494 tmc water.The state is likely to record above-average rainfall in August and September (second half of the southwest monsoon). The monsoon plays an important role in the agriculture sector, said Dr S Karuna Sagar, scientist at IMD-Amaravati.This year’s kharif sowing has shown a marginal increase by 0.19 lakh hectare till July 31. Till July 31, last year, kharif crops were grown on 12.74 lakh hectare of land. However, this year, the total area covered by kharif crops in the state stands at 12.93 lakh hectare.Paddy is the major kharif crop planted in almost all the 26 districts in the state. While the area under paddy plantation is estimated at 15.12 lakh hectare, paddy has been planted on 5.93 lakh hectare in the state, which amounts to 39 per cent of the total area.
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