The drought-hit Prakasam district witnessed light to moderate rain on Tuesday, kindling the hopes among farmers for a good late kharif crop.
With the trough of low pressure persisting, weathermen predicted more rains in the next 24 hours. The revival of the north-east monsoon came as a big relief to the farmers in the district who have raised crops in 2.48 lakh hectares in the late kharif season. The farmers, who usually raise crops in 3.35 lakh hectares during rabi in the first fortnight of November, could not do so due to the prolonged dry spell. But the current spell of rain has come as a boon to save the standing kharif crops and also go for rabi crops with optimism in the district, where paddy cultivation could not be taken up in a big way due to non-release of Krishna water.
The wet spell has given an impetus to rabi operations. “The current rain will be beneficial to the standing crops including red gram, cotton and productivity is sure to go up by at least two quintals per acre,” Agriculture Joint Director J.Muralikrishna told The Hindu .
With the market price of red gram soaring, farmers had taken up the pulse crop in 76,850 hectares this year as compared to the normal acreage of 56,000 hectares. The rains have come at a more opportune time for growers of cotton who have raised the crop in 58,000 hectares. “Farmers are gearing up to sow bengal gram in 1 lakh hectares in the district and reduce tobacco cultivation by half to about 40,000 hectares this year,” he added.
N.G. Padu recorded a rainfall of 15.4 mm on Tuesday followed by Gudlur, Ulavapadu with 15 mm each.
The current rain will be beneficial for red gram, cotton and productivity is sure to go up by at least two quintals per acre
- J. Muralikrishna,Agriculture Joint Director

Source : The Hindu