Hyderabad: Farmers in Telangana State continue to rely more on paddy against other crops for the ongoing Yasangi (Rabi) 2020-21 season, even as agricultural operations picked up pace. Paddy cultivation reached 6.9 lakh acres, against 6.22 lakh acres last year and reached 31.11 per cent crop area to the season’s normal of 22.19 lakh acres.
Due to availability of adequate water, a total of 14.17 lakh acres are under cultivation against season normal of 36.93 lakh acres during the ongoing Yasangi 2020-21. Good spells of rain over the past few months resulted in an average 49 per cent excess rainfall across the State for Yasangi crop season. The cumulative storage in all the major reservoirs is also promising with 811.86 tmc available as on January 6 against 723.82 tmc on the corresponding day last year.
Maize cultivation has come down considerably when compared to last Yasangi season. Against season’s normal of 4.04 lakh acres, maize crop was sown in only 1.22 lakh acres till date whereas it was under cultivation in about 2.63 lakh acres on the corresponding day. Majority of other coarse grains like wheat, jowar, bajra, ragi and other minor millets too witnessed a slump in cultivation as they did not even cover 40 per cent of season normal area under cultivation.
Meanwhile, pulses registered a good increase in crop area for the current Yasangi season when compared to last season. Bengalgram is being cultivated in about 2.77 lakh acres, with 111 per cent area covered against season normal of 2.48 lakh acres. Cultivation of blackgram, redgram, greengram and horsegram too have recorded more than 50 per cent coverage in their respective crop acreage for the season.
“Paddy cultivation was delayed in several areas of the State during Vaanakalam season, due to which the harvesting operations are still continuing. While paddy transplantation has begun in some areas, the operations for Yasangi season will pick up pace later this month. Several other millet and pulses are either in vegetative or flowering stage,” an official in the Agriculture Department told Telangana Today.
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