It’s a harvest of hopelessness for farmers in Mysuru region

Ningaraju, a farmer of H Matakere in H D Kote taluk, Mysuru district, has reduced the area under cultivation of paddy to 20% of his land, due to drought.

Battling the rain deficit, farmers in the Mysuru region are opting for short-term, less water-intensive crops. A few others depend on borewell water to sustain their crops.

Ningaraju, a farmer of H Matakere in H D Kote taluk, Mysuru district, has reduced the area under cultivation of paddy to 20 per cent of his land, due to drought.

The farmer told DH that he has 2.5 acres of land, but this year, he has reduced paddy cultivation.

“While rains have failed, the release of water to canals from Kabini dam on rotation basis can save the standing crops. I undertook sowing in the middle of August and completed transplantation within a month using water from the canal,” he explained.

The ‘sanna madhu’ paddy variety that he is cultivating now is a four-month crop.

“If water is not released to canals, I have to save the crop by pumping water from the borewell,” he added. 

Chillies & maize

He has also grown green chillies and maize on one acre of land each.

K N Subramanya of Nilasoge in T Narsipur taluk says he would have to depend on borewell water, like Ningaraju, to save the paddy that he transplanted towards the end of August. Subramanya grows paddy on five acres, sugarcane on five acres and tuberose (sugandharaja flowers) on half an acre of land.

“We harvested sugarcane in March and thus, the next transplantation will take at least a year. We have transplanted the short-term RNR variety of paddy on five acres of land, with the water released to the canal from Kabini dam,” Subramanya said.

Summer crops gone

This year, he lost all his summer crops like blackgram (uddu), sesame seeds (ellu) and black-eyed beans (thagani kaalu).

“In 2019 and 2020, we got bumper summer crops as the rains were good,” he recalled.

Girish of Kannenapalya in Hanur taluk of Chamarajanagar district has reduced the area on which he cultivates cotton. His cotton saplings are one-month-old now.

“Last year, I cultivated cotton on two acres of land. This year, I have limited cotton to one acre due to drought. Last week, it rained a bit. It will sustain the plants for another week. If it rains next week, we are hopeful of some relief,” he said.

Cotton cultivation down

Girish said many fellow farmers have reduced the area under cotton cultivation in Hanur region and are growing maize. “I have also sown maize on three acres of land,” he said.