‘Rare’ January rain across Karnataka damages crops

BENGALURU: After heavy downpour in October and November which damaged crops, unseasonal rain in January has now worsened the situation.Many parts of Karnataka have experienced rain over the past couple of days and are likely to do so until January 10, forecasters say. The worst-affected crops are ragi, rabi jowar, maize, tur, chana, cotton, sunflower, arecanut, coffee and red chilli.

“Crops which were kept for dryinghave been affected. It has been a wretched year. And the government has so far not extended any help and we have little or no hope from them also,” Chamarasa Patil, a farmer from north Karnataka.

 Farmers say that around 45% of cotton crop, 25% of tur and 60% of red chill crop has already been damaged because of the rain. The colour of maize has started to fade because of the damp weather, due to which its price in the market will drop, farmers say. 

“It is the coffee picking and drying season in Coorg, but because of the rainfall, the fruit has started to drop and it has become difficult to dry it. There will be huge losses if the rainfall continues,” said D Devaiah, a coffee estate owner from Kodagu.

Agrometeorologists said the widespread and heavy rainfall across the state in January is a rare phenomenon and has caught farmers by surprise. Brijesh Kumar Dikshit, Commissioner, Agriculture Department, said the input from farmers is being collected and assessed for losses incurred.