Tur dal harvest drops by 50 pc
The tur harvest this year may be 50 per cent of the expected production due to the vagaries of weather last year, which saw a prolonged drought followed by unseasonal and heavy rains that flooded most of the growing areas in north Karnataka.
In Gulbarga district tur was cultivated in 3.5 hectare area and the expected production was 2.8 lakh ton.
However delay in sowing, failure of rain and later excess rain followed by floods have caused severe damage to tur crop. An officer from Agriculture Department told Deccan Herald that “ currently the tur harvest is going on but we still do not have exact figures. But definitely the tur production will reach only 50 per cent of the target.”
The district administration had estimated a crop loss of Rs 600 crore due to failure of rain. The October floods completely inundated farmlands in Shahapur, Surapur, Jevargi taluks. A distressed farmer said “we had expected 7.5 to 8 quintal harvest per hectare. But now we are not getting even 2 quintal per hectare.”
Price rise
The tur price fluctuating at the market has posed another problem to the farmers. A month ago the tur price was Rs6000 per quintal but now it has dropped to less than Rs 4400.
The Tur Growers’ Association President Basavaraj Ingina has appealed to the farmers not to sell the tur at lesser price as they fear that traders will purchase now at low rate and sell it at higher rate, as the crops have failed.
The inaction by Tur Board has turned a blessing to the traders. The association suggests that the Board should purchase the tur from farmers and even if supplies to anganwadi, hostels and mid-day meal centres, it can still make a profit. BUt the Board has chosen to remain silent.
