Credit: Special Arrangement.
Kalaburagi: The above-normal rainfall has hit tur crop in Kalaburagi district, known as Karnataka’s tur bowl.
The crop is cultivated on 70% of the agriculture fields in the district. Farmers say the yield per hectare will reduce drastically this year.
Stagnation of rainwater in the tur fields has increased moisture content in the crop.
In 2023-24, Karnataka produced 10.19 lakh tonnes of tur. The country’s total production was 33.4 lakh tonnes.
The farmers struggled due to drought and flood in the last two to three years, which resulted in the average crop yield falling from 1,027 kg/hectare in 2020-21 to 873 kg/hectare last year.
Tur is grown on 6.06 lakh hectares (102.33% of the target), out of the total 8.9 lakh hectares of farm land in the district this year. Continuous rains have caused crop disease too.
Floods destroyed tur crops grown in the river basin as more water was released from Ujjani and Veer reservoirs in Maharashtra due to heavy rainfall there. The district has received 161 mm rainfall against the average 107 mm rainfall in June and 166 mm against the normal of 138 mm in July.
Though it received 137.7 mm rain in August, 12% less than normal, the downpour (28 mm) for three days in the beginning of September dealt a severe blow to the crop as lot of water got stagnated in the fields.
“Two weeks ago, a large quantity of rainwater accumulated in my 10-acre field. The growth of tur plants besides green gram and black gram plants (alternative crops) is severely affected as they are turning red due to high moisture content. The yield is expected to be reduced by half this year. The situation is the same in several parts of the district,” said Srinivas Reddy, a farmer from Motakpalli in Sedam taluk.
The farmers are required to provide to the insurance company details of the crop loss within 72 hours of the calamity, for claims.
IFFCO Tokio General Insurance Company has received 23,700 complaints in three days from September 1.
“We have started visiting the fields to assess the crop loss,” the company’s district officer Shivu S B said.
Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha district president Sharanabasappa Mamashetty claimed that there will be a 30% fall in yield of tur crop as fields in low-lying areas and river basins were inundated.
He sought an increase in the minimum support price of tur, fixed at Rs 7,550 per quintal by the government, as its market price has been hovering around Rs 11,000.
“The crop will wither if water stagnates in the farm land for a few more days. I have directed the officials to conduct a survey of the crop loss. Those who have taken crop insurance can approach the companies for claims,” agriculture department joint director Samad Patel said.