Farmers rue their luck as unrelenting showers cause extensive damage in Karnataka

Bengaluru: Unyielding showers have caused extensive damage to unharvested kharif crops while delaying the sowing of rabi crops in the state.

Ready-for-harvest onion crop is rotting on vast tracts of land due to a prolonged wet weather in many parts of north and central Karnataka.

Incessant showers have flooded acres of farmland in Hungund taluk of Bagalkot district. Farmers in the taluk are rueing their bad luck as the maize crop is wilting due to inclement weather. Now, they are worried about the damage the rain can cause to rabi crops like jowar and chickpea among others.

The situation is no different in other taluks of Bagalkot district, where the farmers are staring at another crop loss.

In Naragund taluk, Gadag district, Bennehalla stream has unleashed flood fury damaging acres of crops on its banks. Unrelenting showers and waterlogging of the fields have left the farmers of the taluk worried.  High amounts of moisture in soil may turn the chickpea, a popular rabi crop in the region, yellow.

Down south, the output of groundnuts in Pavagad taluk, Tumakuru district, may come down drastically due to sprouting while the harvested groundnut is rotting in the fields. If the rains refuse to subside, groundnut crop will suffer severe damage in the taluk, lament aggrieved farmers.

The marigold farmers in the taluk are staring at loss as the flowers are rotting in the plants due to incessant rain. They were expecting good yield and profits during Deepavali. Even paddy and cotton crops are lost. R Ajay Kumar, the assistant director of agriculture department, has urged the farmers to furnish the details of crop loss to the officials.

In Gundlupet of Chamarajanagar taluk, the farmers are facing trouble in harvesting potato, sunflower among others. With the lakes and ponds receiving copious inflows, more rains will only breach waterbodies and thereby spell doom for the farmers in the taluk.

Meanwhile, intermittent spells of rain on Wednesday have hit normal life in many parts of north and south Karnataka and Malnad districts.

The Yallamma temple at Kokatnur village of Athani taluk in Belagavi district was marooned following a lake breach on Wednesday.The floodwaters have reached the sanctum sanctorum. Large number of devotees from Karnataka and Maharashtra are expected to visit the temple in view of Shigi Hunnime.

Water levels in many east and west-flowing rivers continued to increase. Jayamangali river, which flows in the semi-arid Madhugiri and Koratagere taluks, has come alive. Several lakes in the twin taluks have received good inflow due to unyielding rains.

Harangi reservoir in Kodagu district has been receiving good inflow due to heavy rain in the forest areas. Madikeri, Siddapur, Virajpet and Suntikoppa witnessed spells of moderate to heavy rain on Wednesday.