Wilt disease hits vast tracts of red gram crop in Kalaburagi, farmers in Karnataka in distress

Red gram is cultivated in over 4.8 lakh hectares in Kalaburagi district. On 1.8 lakh hectares, the crop was destroyed owing to heavy rains and floods in August–September this year. Now, as per an estimate of the Agriculture Department, the crop on another 69,000 hectares has been destroyed by disease

Lingaraj Jane, a farmer from Munnoli village in Aland taluk of Kalaburagi district in Karnataka, had hopes of repaying his debts, which are around ₹6 lakh, this year as he was expecting a good yield of red gram that he had cultivated on eight acres. However, the plants, which were healthy till the flowering stage, caught wilt disease at the beginning of the pod-setting stage and began turning red.

“Within four days, all the plants were dead, and the entire field turned red. All my efforts to save the crop went in vain. Frequent spray of pesticides did not work,” Mr. Jane said.

Mr. Jane’s is not an isolated case. It is the story of most of the red gram farmers in Kalaburagi, Bidar and Yadgir districts in north Karnataka. Disturbing scenes of dried-out red gram crop on vast tracts of agricultural fields are seen everywhere. Desperate farmers, facing financial ruin, are taking to the streets demanding compensation from the Karnataka Government.

Red gram is cultivated in over 4.8 lakh hectares in Kalaburagi district. On 1.8 lakh hectares, the crop was destroyed owing to heavy rains and floods in August–September this year.

Now, as per an estimate of the Agriculture Department, the crop on another 69,000 hectares has been destroyed. A team of scientists from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur has visited the affected fields to study the cause.

“We need a joint survey to ascertain the exact area of destruction. No order is issued for a joint survey thus far. Upon our request, the technical report given by the team of scientists has been submitted to the Department of Agriculture,” Samad Patel, Joint Director of Agriculture, told The Hindu.

Neighbouring Yadgir and Bidar districts are also hit by the wilt disease, with the destruction of the red gram crop on 10.25 hectares and 10.42 hectares, respectively. On account of these two (rain and disease) factors, red gram production is expected to fall from around 50 lakh tonnes in 2021 to 25 lakh tonnes in 2022, indicating the possibility of rise in price of the commodity in the market.