With rainfall remaining in the ‘normal’ range in most parts of Andhra Pradesh, the total area under cultivation as of August 3 reached 4.82 million hectares, which is 90 per cent of the as-on-date normal of 5.34 million ha and 62 per cent of the season normal of 7.81 million ha.
The southwest monsoon began with a lull and remained sluggish through June, accounting for 39 per cent deficit in that month. However, the state saw a revival in July, as regular rain pushed the total rainfall five per cent above normal. The trend continued into the first few days of August.
The total rainfall as of August 3 was 283.1 mm, nine per cent below the normal of 311.6 mm. In most parts of the state, the rainfall remained within the ‘normal’ range (defined as 19 per cent deviation), except in Karimnagar and Adilabad, where it was in deficit and Krishna district, where it was in excess.
While the acreage under most crops is above 50 per cent of the normal level for the season, it remained below the halfway mark in paddy, onion, sunflower and chillies. In contrast, the acreage under cotton and soybean exceeded the normal level.
Officials said the sluggish rain in June was the cause behind the relatively low acreage under these crops. On paddy, they said water was released last week and the acreage is expected to increase as transplantation picks up. According to officials, the crop holiday being observed by paddy farmers in 11 mandals of East Godavari was over an extent of 45,000 hectares. The total targeted area for the crop in the state is 2.87 million hectares in kharif and 1.7 million hectares in rabi. “As such, the area under holiday is small and would not impact the production target of 9.1 million tonnes in kharif,” the official said.
However, the issue drew the attention of the chief minister, who on August 1 asked the district collector to enumerate the labourers in need of additional employment programmes in the wake of the crop holiday.
The official view of the issue is that there was 32 per cent excess production of paddy in the last rabi season, and due to a shortage of storage capacity, the produce could not be lifted either by rice millers or by the government agencies. The government said it had sanctioned Rs 2,100 crore to the civil supplies department for procurement of 2.2 million tonnes of paddy. It was also considering construction of new godown space for 180,000 tonnes in the next one-and-a-half years, along with taking one million tonne space available with the central agencies in the state. At present, the godown space in the state is 4.3 million tonnes.
Region-wise, the cultivated area in irrigated districts remained less than 50 percent as of August 3, while it was above that level in districts falling broadly in the rainfed region. Officials say this is because the sowing in irrigated areas would pick up after the release of water, while in other areas, it proceeds according to the rain.