The economy of Karnataka is mainly agrarian and largely dependent on rainfall, primarily the southwest monsoon. Till August 10, according to official estimates, Karnataka received an average rainfall of 750 mm, in contrast to the normal 1,150 mm. While 20 districts received deficient rainfall, seven others received excessive rainfall leading to floods.
The state government is looking to the Centre for a bailout package although it has not declared the state ?drought-hit? yet. The govern- ment has sought Rs 318 crore from the Centre and Rs 395 crore for flood relief operations. Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa has asked various departments to report on the drought situation. The state has released Rs 53.76 crore since July for relief works.
According to the drought monitoring cell, during week 33 (August 13 to August 19), the state recorded an actual amount of 53 mm of rainfall as against the normal of 48 mm with percentage departure from normal being 10%.
The Karnataka government is estimated to have lost about Rs 1,387 crore worth of Kharif crops due to drought and excess rain in some districts. The Kharif crops in Karnataka comprise millets, paddy, maize, moong (pulses), groundnut, red chillies, cotton, soyabean, sugarcane, rice, and turmeric. Overall it is a bad Kharif season. Paddy, jowar, bajra and pulses like green gram and black gram are most affected crops, say officials. Karnataka produces only 3.5% of the country?s rice production and imports nearly a fifth of its rice requirement of 4.31 million tonnes. ?The biggest worry is the price, as the states from where it is importing rice ? Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, are affected,? say agriculture officials.
Karnataka is divided into three meteorological zones ? north interior, south interior and coastal Karnataka. During week 33, in south interior Karnataka, rainfall was excess in Bangalore Urban, Chamarajanagara, Chitradurga, Davanagere, Kolar, Mandya, Mysore, Ramanagara and Tumkur districts, normal in Chikkaballapur, and deficient in Bangalore rural district. The percentage departure of the weekly rainfall from normal in south-interior Karnataka indicates that during 2009, this zone recorded rainfall of 256% above normal than in the corresponding period in the last four years.
In north interior Karnataka, rainfall in week 33 was excess in Bagalkote, Bellary, Bijapur, Gadag, Haveri, Koppala and Raichur districts, normal in Belgaum district, and deficient in Bidar, Dharwad and Gulbarga districts. In the coastal region, rainfall was deficient in Dakshina Kannada and scanty in Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts. Percentage departure of the weekly rainfall from normal in coastal region indicates that the region recorded rainfall of -67% less than normal than the corresponding period of last four years.
According to the provisional data available at the Department of Agriculture, an area of 54.80 lakh hectares was sown by August 17, 2009 as against the normal area of 59.64 lakh hectares. The coverage as percentage of normal area is highest for cash crops, followed by cereals, pulses and oilseeds.
State food and civil supplies officials are excited about the ?Akki Santhe? scheme by the state, which is offering rice at a price lower than the market price. Three varieties of rice, BT Sona, Ganga Sona and Fine Sona, are being sold at Rs 20, Rs 25 and Rs 28 respectively. ?We are getting rice millers to supply rice directly through cooperative societies, eliminating middlemen from the system,? says a highly placed official from the department who didn?t want to be quoted. ?Through the PDS, we are also giving rice and wheat at Rs 3 per kilo to below poverty line families. This reaches out to about 1.6 crore families. There is nothing to panic; our strategies are working out fine,? he says.