With the met officials predicting a good monsoon this kharif season, farmers in the district are all set to begin agricultural operations.

The normal cultivable area covers 5.61 lakh hectares in the district and by June end, cultivation began in 1.07 lakh hectares with the main crops being groundnut, cotton and red gram. The land has been tilled and made ready for the seedling stage.

Sowing of ground nut has begun in Kurnool and Adoni revenue divisions. Agriculture joint director D Thakur Naik said that cotton acreage could go up in the coming year as the prospects of an increase in price were bright. So far, cotton has been sown in 60,000 hectares as against the total available area of 1.7 lakh hectares in the district.

Groundnut has been sown in 50,000 hectares as against the total available area of 1.4 lakh hectares and red gram has been sown in 6,000 hectares as against the total available area of 35,000 hectares, he added. Though the cost of cultivation of commercial crops has been on the rise, farmers still prefer for them for the remunerative prices they fetch.

The normal rainfall in July is 117 mm and the rainfall recorded as on date is 77mm, raising hopes of a good Kharif output. Various agencies of the government have been involved in the distribution of seeds.

A wet spell may see a flurry of activity and once the water is released from KC Canal and Srisailam reservoir, agricultural operations are expected to pick up. Water is slated to be released from KC Canal on July 15.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Express News Service – Kurnool / July 14th, 2013