<p>The Karnataka government has portrayed a grim picture of the prevailing drought situation in the state before an inter-ministerial Central team which will visit drought-hit districts from Thursday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The 10-member panel, headed by Neeraja Adidam, joint secretary, Union Agriculture Department, will split into three teams and visit a total of 16 districts. The teams will travel to Chitradurga, Ballari, Koppal, Gadag, Dharwad, Haveri, Davangere, Ramanagaram, Chamarajnagar, Mysuru, Hassan, Mandya, Tumakuru, Chikkaballapur, Kolar and Bengaluru Rural districts. The teams will have a wrap-up meeting in Bengaluru on Saturday. The panel will later submit a report to the Centre.<br /><br />In a pre-visit presentation before the panel on Wednesday, state government officials pointed out that Karnataka was facing drought for the sixth consecutive year. It was pointed out that buoyed by good rains during June, kharif cultivation was taken up briskly by farmers.<br /><br />The good rainfall received during June and July was offset by deficit rainfall during August and September. The rainfall deficit was 72% in south interior Karnataka and 36% in Malnad during September.<br /><br />The deficient rains resulted in poor inflows into major reservoirs. In the presentation, it was pointed out that major agriculture crops grown during kharif primarily included green gram, black gram, tur dal, groundnut, jowar, soyabean, maize and cotton.<br /><br />Prolonged continuous dry spell in drought-hit taluks resulted in crop loss estimated at Rs 11,051 crore. Horticulture crops such as onion, potato, chilli, perennial and plantation crops like pomegranate, mango, coconut and arecanut were also severely affected due to moisture stress.<br /><br />Horticulture crops on as much as 1.89 lakh hectares have been affected and crop loss is estimated at Rs 1,094 crore.</p>
<p>The Karnataka government has portrayed a grim picture of the prevailing drought situation in the state before an inter-ministerial Central team which will visit drought-hit districts from Thursday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The 10-member panel, headed by Neeraja Adidam, joint secretary, Union Agriculture Department, will split into three teams and visit a total of 16 districts. The teams will travel to Chitradurga, Ballari, Koppal, Gadag, Dharwad, Haveri, Davangere, Ramanagaram, Chamarajnagar, Mysuru, Hassan, Mandya, Tumakuru, Chikkaballapur, Kolar and Bengaluru Rural districts. The teams will have a wrap-up meeting in Bengaluru on Saturday. The panel will later submit a report to the Centre.<br /><br />In a pre-visit presentation before the panel on Wednesday, state government officials pointed out that Karnataka was facing drought for the sixth consecutive year. It was pointed out that buoyed by good rains during June, kharif cultivation was taken up briskly by farmers.<br /><br />The good rainfall received during June and July was offset by deficit rainfall during August and September. The rainfall deficit was 72% in south interior Karnataka and 36% in Malnad during September.<br /><br />The deficient rains resulted in poor inflows into major reservoirs. In the presentation, it was pointed out that major agriculture crops grown during kharif primarily included green gram, black gram, tur dal, groundnut, jowar, soyabean, maize and cotton.<br /><br />Prolonged continuous dry spell in drought-hit taluks resulted in crop loss estimated at Rs 11,051 crore. Horticulture crops such as onion, potato, chilli, perennial and plantation crops like pomegranate, mango, coconut and arecanut were also severely affected due to moisture stress.<br /><br />Horticulture crops on as much as 1.89 lakh hectares have been affected and crop loss is estimated at Rs 1,094 crore.</p>
