Karnataka sees drastic drop in sowing for pulses, oilseeds

Despite timely onset of monsoon and better than expected pre-monsoon showers, which augured well for Kharif crops, the sowing in Karnataka was below normal till second week of August. Between June 1 and August 12, the state as a whole has received only 73% of normal rains at 411 mm and has been classified under Deficit category.

Even before monsoon had set in, more than average pre-monsoon showers had cheered farmers, as wet soil and moisture helped them prepare their lands for early sowing operations. However, as monsoon progressed, many taluks have not received adequate rains, thereby affecting agricultural operations.

The state government has declared 98 taluks in 26 districts as drought hit and announced several contingency measures to tackle the situation. As a first step, the government has released Rs 200 crore to supply drinking water and dig borewells in villages.

According to provisional data available with the Department of Agriculture, sowing was completed in 4.46 million hectares, which is 86% of the normal coverage as on August 12, 2015.

However, the state as a whole has achieved only 61% of the total targetted area under kharif this year. The state government has set a sowing target of 7.3 million hectares during the kharif season this year.

The normal coverage during this period is estimated at 5.14 million hectares. Compared to the same period last year, the sowing is 8.6% lower. Last year, the sowing was carried out in 4.88 million hectares during the same period.

As on August 12, sowing was above normal in five districts, normal in 24 districts and below normal in one district. Sowing was above normal in Bangalore Rural, Belagavi, Chikkaballapura, Kolar and Mysuru districts. Bagalkote, Bidar, Chamarajanagara, Chikkamagaluru, Davanagere, Dharwad, Gadag, Gulbarga, Hassan, Haveri, Kodagu, Koppala, Shivamogga, Udupi and Uttara Kannada witnessed between 76% and 100% sowing. The sowing was above 50% and below 75% in the districts of Bangalore Urban, Ballari, Vijayapura, Chitradurga, Dakshina Kannada, Mandya, Ramanagara, Tumkur and Yadgir. Raichur witnessed less than 50% sowing.

The coverage as percentage of targeted area is highest in case of cash crops followed by cereals, pulses and oilseeds.

Sowing for cereals was done in 1.76 million hectares, which is 51% of the targetted area of 3.45 million hectares. The normal coverage as on August 12 was set at 2.19 million hectares. Compared to the normal area, the achievement was 80% during the period. Sowing under pulses was carried out in 999,000 hectares, which is 68% of the total targetted area of 1.46 million hectares. As against the normal coverage as on date, the sowing was done in 89% of the area.

Under oilseeds, the sowing was done in 673,000 hectares, which is 59% of the target and 79% of the normal coverage as on date. The state has set a target of 1.13 million hectares under the oilseeds this year. The sowing under cash crops was done in 1.02 million hectares, which is 82% of the target. Compared to the normal coverage as on date, the sowing was 106%.

Karnataka grows rice, jowar, ragi, maize, bajra and minor millets under cereals. Tur, horsegram, blackgram, greengram, cowpea and avare are major pulses grown by the state.

As many as 16 districts have witnessed 22% shortfall in rains this year. The state government has also given guarantee to state cooperative banks to raise up to Rs 1,550 crore loan from National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard).