3 taluks turn bone-dry

Kolar, Bangarpet, Srinivaspur among 70 drought-hit taluks in the State

The scanty rainfall is estimated to cause huge crop loss in the district.  Ragi sown prior to the monsoon is in the stage of developing ears. However, lack of rainfall has dealt a severe blow to the crop.

Though rainfall on Monday night seemed to provide some relief, it has only damaged standing crop. According to the Department of Agriculture, crops in 1,386 hectares in Kolar taluk, 2,800 hectares in Malur, 1,104 hectares in Bangarpet, 5,300 hectares in Srinivaspur have withered.

In total, crops in 10,590 hectares in four taluks in the district have been damaged. Poor rainfall has hit harvesting of groundnut crop in Mulbagal taluk has been delayed.

Ragi, the main crop
Ragi, which is the main crop in the district is grown in nearly 62,500 hectares. However, this year ragi has been sown in 60,011 hectares. A few farmers in the district sowed ragi at the fag end of August. However, low rainfall has dashed the hopes of the farmers.

Of the total 1.02 lakh hectares arable land in the district, sowing has taken place in nearly 91,871 hectares. Of the total 71,500 hectares, where monocot crops such as ragi, maize, jowar and millets are grown, sowing has taken place in 66,509 hectares.

Whereas, of the total 15,500 hectares, where dicot crops such as tur, cowpea, horsegram are cultivated, sowing has been carried out in 13,652 hectares.

Similarly, sowing of oil seeds such as groundnut, sunflower, till, castor, soya, mustard has taken place in 11,630 hectares of the total 14,600 hectares in the district.

In case of sugarcane, a commercial crop, planting of the crop has been carried out in 80 hectares of the total 800 hectares under cultivation.

Statistics
Last year in August, the district received 2904.1 mm of rainfall, whereas this year it has come down to 2060 mm. A Central team had visited the district on August 24 to assess the drought situation.

The parched lands
* Ramanagara: Channapatna, Kanakapura
* Kolar: Bangarpet, Kolar, Srinivasapura
* Chikkaballapur: Chikkaballapur, Chintamani, Gauribidanur
* Tumkur: Kunigal, Madhugiri, Pavagada, Sira, Tumkur
* Chitradurga: Challakere, Chitradurga, Hosadurga, Molakalmuru
* Chamarajanagar: Chamarajanagar, Gundlupet, Kollegal, Yalandur
* Mysore: Krishnarajanagar, Nanjangud, T Narasipura;
* Mandya: Krishnarajpet, Maddur, Malavalli, Mandya, Nagamangala
* Bellary: Bellary, Hospet, Hagaribommanahalli, Kudligi, Sandur, Siraguppa
* Koppal: Gangavati, Koppal, Kushtagi, Yalburga
* Raichur: Deodurg, Lingsugur, Manvi, Raichur, Sindhanur
* Gulbarga: Afzalpur, Aland, Chincholi, Chittapur, Gulbarga, Jewargi, Sedam
* Yadgir: Shorapur, Shahpur
* Bidar: Bidar
* Bagalkot: Bilagi, Jamakhandi, Mudhol
* Bijapur: Basavana Bagevadi, Bijapur, Indi, Sindhagi
* Gadag: Gadag, Mundargi
* Hassan: Arasikere, Channarayapatna, Hassan, Holenarasipur
* Dharwad: Navalgund
* Chikamaglur: Kadur
* Belgaum: Athani

Davangere MLA unhappy
MLA S V Ramachandra has expressed his displeasure over Jagalur and Harapanahalli taluks not being included in the list of 70 taluks declared drought-hit by the State government.

He said the taluks have reported a huge crop loss due to the lack of rain. He blamed the district administration and officers of the Revenue and Agriculture departments for their failure in assessing the situation properly.

The officers did not submit a report that reflected the ground realities and assessed the actual loss suffered by the farmers in the district.

Therefore, the Government did not take into consideration the memorandum submitted to Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda by him along with MP G M Siddeshwara, seeking to include the two taluks in the list, he said.