Adilabad:Distressed farmers are exploring alternative ways to save the standing cotton crop from the drought conditions in Adilabad district. Some farmers are using sprinklers and drip irrigation, and some others lifting water from canals to feed the standing crop, and using groundwater in their own fields.
The prevailing hot weather, coupled with drought conditions, is affecting the standing cotton crops more. Adilabad district is experiencing 36 degree celsius temperatures due to the El Nino effect and climate.
However, due to the prevailing hot weather conditions and prolonged dry spell, cotton farmers may not face moisture content problems in the cotton and may get a demand price more than the MSP of `8, 667 per quintal for the cotton.
This, following reports that there will be a fall in the cotton yield this Kharif.
Farmers cultivated cotton in 4.30 lakh acres, soya in 56,000, red gram in 42,000 and maize in 21,000 acres in Adilabad district.
Farmer Gandrath Prabhakar of Kapparla village in Tamsi mandal is trying to save the standing cotton crop by giving it water with sprinklers. He’s getting water from the bore in his field, since the standing crop was not grown fully and has very few bolls following the prolonged dry spell.
Prabhakar complained that he was unable to give water to the standing cotton crop due to irregular power supply and power cuts for long hours.
This, he notes, is a crucial time to save the cotton plants. Giving water is a must for the plants to grow for a good number of bolls. Water can be used properly without wastage with sprinklers and drip.
Farmer Bhumanna of Pochera was preparing his fields to cultivate Chana after cutting the soya crop as a second crop, but he’s uncertain about getting water from the Vaddadi irrigation project due to the drought conditions and as irrigation officials are storing the water for future drinking water needs.
Some farmers are lifting water to feed the cotton crop by using motors, from the canal of the Vaddadi irrigation project, and there are seen many motors along the canal in the Tamsi mandal. Some other farmers who do not have canal facilities are lifting water from the local stream and rivulets to give water to the cotton crop.
Farmer Panjab Reddy of Nipani village in Bheempur mandal, who cultivated cotton in three acres, said many farmers would not get yield that compensates their investment costs, leaving aside the profits this season. There would not be a second and third picking of cotton since the plants are already getting dried up with hot weather conditions and there’s no water this Kharif.
However, cotton farmers who cultivated cotton in red soil and faced a prolonged dry spell are facing lower yield problems in Tamsi, Talamadugu and Bheempur mandals. The situation would not be that bad in the black soil, like in Bela and Adilabad rural, Adilabad and Jainad mandals.
There may be no moisture problem for cotton farmers this season. The prevailing hot weather conditions rule out a problem of moisture in the cotton this Kharif season.
Generally, cotton farmers face the problem of high moisture content in cotton when they sell their cotton due to foggy weather conditions. CCI does not purchase cotton with more than 12 per cent moisture content, while private traders cut the amount for high moisture, in the price they offer. But this Kharif season looks different with the prevalence of hot weather conditions.
Farmers used to face 25 per cent moisture content in their cotton due to foggy weather conditions in the past.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
