Anantapur ryots prefer to delay sowing

Wary of yield loss due to excess rains, following last year’s experience

Once bitten twice shy, a majority of farmers who practice monocropping of groundnut in Anantapur district have not begun sowing operations this season despite good rains in the past two months and abundant availability of subsidised seeds. On the other hand, several people in rural areas are eagerly waiting for the sowing operations to begin so that some employment gets generated at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in livelihood loss. Early rains in 2020 (137% excess in April and 67% in June) had prompted them to sow groundnut from the end of May and early June, leading to severe loss in crop yield due to 147% excess rainfall during July last year. Farmers do not wish to get caught in the heavy rains by August when groundnut comes to flowering and pod formation stage in the 95 to 120-day crop period of the popular K 6 variety. This year there have been good rains since April with 33.4 mm recorded against a normal of 12.8mm and during May against a normal of 39.6 mm the district recorded 79.5 mm with pre-monsoon showers. With southwest monsoon hitting the State on June 3, an average of 89.7 mm rain was recorded in 10 days against a normal of 31.7 mm, a deviation of 183.0% (excess) so far.