<p>Kalaburagi: The economy in the rice belt of Raichur, Ballari, Koppal and Vijayanagar districts is likely to be hit as the Tungabhadra irrigation consultative committee (TBICC) has decided to stop releasing water for the second crop from January 10.</p>.<p>This is in the light of the work on replacing 33 crest gates of the TB dam set to begin from December-end. Replacing the gates has become imminent after the 19th crest gate was washed away in August last year.</p>.<p>Farmers in the region cultivate paddy in rabi season between December and May.</p>.Sugarcane farmers’ stir in Bidar enters seventh day.<p>Owners of around 300 hundred rice mills in the region will have to shut down operations if the paddy produce doesn’t come to them for processing it into rice. </p>.<p>The rice mill owners’ association said over 10,000 permanent employees and an equal number of temporary workers will be affected. Farm labourers will be forced to migrate to other places for a living, it said.</p>.<p>Hamals working in APMC yards will be rendered jobless in the absence of rice arrivals, it said. </p>.<p>“Mills have fixed expenses like salaries, bank loan instalments and other maintenance costs. We cannot bring paddy from other states due to high transportation cost. We would have got paddy this season if crest gates were replaced on time,” association state president Savitri Purushottam said.</p>.<p>Paddy is grown on around 6 lakh acres with water from both right and left Tungabhadra canals in these districts. </p>.<p>Farmer leaders and rice mill owners said around 18 lakh tonnes of paddy is produced in one season due to which there is business turnover of over Rs 3,000 crore. </p>.<p>“Release of water from the dam would have helped farmers get a second crop in 3-4 months. Now, lakhs of people including lorry and tractor owners, agro-chemical dealers, farm labourers will suffer if there is no paddy crop this rabi season. Scientists of agriculture universities and officials have failed to guide farmers on alternative crops,” farmer leader Chamaras Malipatil said.</p>.<p>Cut-off box - Rotate crops for soil fertility say scientists Cultivation of only paddy for decades with no crop rotation has reduced soil fertility in TB dam’s command areas. Agri scientists say saline-alkaline stress has reduced crop productivity in the region which accounts for 50% of Karnataka’s total rice production. They suggested turning this crisis into an opportunity by switching to alternative crops like black gram millets mustard maize chickpea sunflower and green gram. “The saline-alkaline stress has reduced crop productivity by 20% on over one lakh hectares of the total 3.5 lakh hectares in the region’s paddy-growing areas. We have held meetings with farmers on increasing soil fertility with alternative crops” said Dr Mahant Shivayogayya senior scientist at agriculture research station Gangavati Koppal district. Koppal incharge Minister Shivaraj Thangadagi also TBICC chairman said it was possible to provide water for second crop only if storage level of 80 tmc ft is maintained in the dam till second week of December after good inflow. The dam’s storage capacity of 133 tmc ft has dropped to 105.788 tmc feet due to silt accumulation. Storage of only 80 tmc ft is allowed till replacement of crest gates.</p>
<p>Kalaburagi: The economy in the rice belt of Raichur, Ballari, Koppal and Vijayanagar districts is likely to be hit as the Tungabhadra irrigation consultative committee (TBICC) has decided to stop releasing water for the second crop from January 10.</p>.<p>This is in the light of the work on replacing 33 crest gates of the TB dam set to begin from December-end. Replacing the gates has become imminent after the 19th crest gate was washed away in August last year.</p>.<p>Farmers in the region cultivate paddy in rabi season between December and May.</p>.Sugarcane farmers’ stir in Bidar enters seventh day.<p>Owners of around 300 hundred rice mills in the region will have to shut down operations if the paddy produce doesn’t come to them for processing it into rice. </p>.<p>The rice mill owners’ association said over 10,000 permanent employees and an equal number of temporary workers will be affected. Farm labourers will be forced to migrate to other places for a living, it said.</p>.<p>Hamals working in APMC yards will be rendered jobless in the absence of rice arrivals, it said. </p>.<p>“Mills have fixed expenses like salaries, bank loan instalments and other maintenance costs. We cannot bring paddy from other states due to high transportation cost. We would have got paddy this season if crest gates were replaced on time,” association state president Savitri Purushottam said.</p>.<p>Paddy is grown on around 6 lakh acres with water from both right and left Tungabhadra canals in these districts. </p>.<p>Farmer leaders and rice mill owners said around 18 lakh tonnes of paddy is produced in one season due to which there is business turnover of over Rs 3,000 crore. </p>.<p>“Release of water from the dam would have helped farmers get a second crop in 3-4 months. Now, lakhs of people including lorry and tractor owners, agro-chemical dealers, farm labourers will suffer if there is no paddy crop this rabi season. Scientists of agriculture universities and officials have failed to guide farmers on alternative crops,” farmer leader Chamaras Malipatil said.</p>.<p>Cut-off box - Rotate crops for soil fertility say scientists Cultivation of only paddy for decades with no crop rotation has reduced soil fertility in TB dam’s command areas. Agri scientists say saline-alkaline stress has reduced crop productivity in the region which accounts for 50% of Karnataka’s total rice production. They suggested turning this crisis into an opportunity by switching to alternative crops like black gram millets mustard maize chickpea sunflower and green gram. “The saline-alkaline stress has reduced crop productivity by 20% on over one lakh hectares of the total 3.5 lakh hectares in the region’s paddy-growing areas. We have held meetings with farmers on increasing soil fertility with alternative crops” said Dr Mahant Shivayogayya senior scientist at agriculture research station Gangavati Koppal district. Koppal incharge Minister Shivaraj Thangadagi also TBICC chairman said it was possible to provide water for second crop only if storage level of 80 tmc ft is maintained in the dam till second week of December after good inflow. The dam’s storage capacity of 133 tmc ft has dropped to 105.788 tmc feet due to silt accumulation. Storage of only 80 tmc ft is allowed till replacement of crest gates.</p>
