Heavy rain, flood hit farming in Kalaburagi; crop loss to exceed Rs 500 crore

Heavy rains in Kalaburagi district, a key growing region for Tur (red gram), has hit the standing agricultural crop, inflicting severe damage to growers. A majority of the agricultural crops have been submerged in the water due to devastating rain and floods in the region.

According to estimates by the Karnataka Red Gram Growers’ Association (KRGGA) president Basavaraj Ingin, the damage to standing crops is in excess of Rs 500 crore. The agriculture department is currently undertaking the survey of the rain-affected crop areas.

“The agriculture department is yet to complete its survey. In our estimate, the damage to all agricultural crops will be more than Rs 500 crore as there is no let-up in the rains,” Ingin told DH.

The data compiled by KRGGA shows sowing has completed in 7.55 lakh hectares for major crops such as red gram, green gram, black gram, cotton, hybrid jowar, bajra, maize, sunflower, sugarcane, groundnut and bengal gram in Kalaburagi district during the kharif season.

Initial estimates show that about 51% of the total area sown has been affected. The loss of various crops is estimated between 10% and 64%. Kalaburagi district is well known for growing red gram and the damage to the crop is in excess of 70%, Ingin said.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa is visiting the rain-affected areas on Wednesday.

“We are looking forward to the chief minister’s visit to the affected areas. We hope he will announce a relief package to the affected farmers,” Ingin said.

Red gram crop hit hard

The red gram farmers have carried out sowing in a record 4,76,404 hectares of area this year and the crop was in a good condition till the devastating rains damaged the crop.

“We were looking for a bumper red gram crop this year until the rains inflicted heavy damage. As of now, the red gram production in Kalaburagi district is likely to decline in the range of 50-70% this year,” Ingin said.

Crop insurance

An estimated 37,600 farmers have insured their crops this year. The area insured is around 51,500 hectares in the district, while the sum insured is over Rs 200 crore. These farmers have paid Rs 4.33 crore premium towards the crop insurance.

Steep price rise

The red gram crop loss is expected to disrupt the supply in the retail markets in the coming days and is likely to result in price rise. Already, red gram is retailed at Rs 95-110 per kg and in the coming days it will go up by 15-20%, Ramesh Chandra Lahoti, a Bengaluru-based pulses trader said.