Unseasonal rain washes away paddy crops

Unseasonal rain in several parts of the State washed away standing crops on Friday, leaving farmers in the lurch.

Standing paddy crops have suffered extensive damage in Ballari. Farmers, who had harvested paddy, faced a tough time protecting the crop from dampening. “A purchaser had promised to pay Rs 1,190 for a 75-kg paddy bag.

But he is now hesitating to purchase the produce since the paddy has dampened and turned brown. Milling such paddy would result in pounded rice,” said Kadappa, a farmer of Somalapura near Kampli.

Hospet, Sandur and Kampli also experienced heavy rain.
Koppal district has been receiving heavy rain for the past two days. While it drizzled in Koppal, normal life was hit in Gangavathi as it rained heavily from dawn to dusk. Standing paddy crop in several villages were washed away.

Kalaburagi
Rain lashed Kalaburagi city and other parts of the district on Friday, affecting normal life. Cloudy weather prevailed in most parts of the district with the day temperature drastically coming down to 23 degree Celsius from 30 degrees on Thursday.

Farmers expressed fears about tur crops suffering loss if it has already been cut for harvesting. Standing cotton crops may also suffer to some extent. Areca harvesting has suffered a setback due to widespread rain at Siddapur in Uttara Kannada district.

Harvested paddy piles have dampened, diminishing their market value. Standing paddy crop on more than 300 hectares has been damaged in Sirsi taluk. The town received rains for around three hours in the evening.

Bidar
Showers began around 9.30 am in Bidar town and continued till evening. The rain threw normal life out of gear. People chose to remain indoors and there was sparse attendance in schools and colleges. Office-goers had a tough time in reaching their destination while business was dull at Mohan Market and Udagir Street.

Basavakalyan, Aurad, Bhalki and Humanabad taluks received moderate rain.
The district recorded an average rainfall of 1.2 mm as on Friday morning. Ranebennur and Rattihalli received heavy showers on Thursday night while the remaining parts of the district received moderate rain.

According to sources in the Agriculture department, the rain may affect paddy crop ready for harvest. However, the rain is conducive for jowar.

Belagavi
The city received light showers in the morning and evening on Friday. Students and office-goers faced problem in reaching their destinations. There were reports of heavy downpour in Gokak and Kittur in Bailhongal taluk.

Hubballi-Dharwad
Hubballi-Dharwad received moderate rain on Friday, causing inconvenience to the citizens. The drizzling, which started at 2.30 pm, intensified by night. Dark clouds covered the sky throughout the day. Farmers in the district have expressed the fear of crop loss if it continued to rain for a few more days.
DH News Service