After Covid-19, rains come for North Karnataka farmers

In Kalyana Karnataka, where the economy is dependent on agriculture, both scanty and heavy rainfall spell doom.

While the pandemic affected the income of farmers last year, the heavy rain that lashed seven districts has damaged paddy and tur crops on large tracts of farmland.

In Kalaburagi, the land of tur dal, around 1.87 lakh hectares of the crop has been damaged. Last year, heavy floods saw this yield of tur being reduced by close to 20 lakh quintals when compared to normal, according to Kalaburagi Agriculture Department Joint Director Rathendranath Sugur.

This time, the recent showers have damaged the tur crop in 1.87 lakh hectares of land.

Also Read | Unseasonal rains drown Karnataka's rural economy

Paddy, which is grown along the Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers in Raichur, Koppal and Yadgir, is another major crop that has been affected.

Nayeem Husain, Joint director, Raichur Agriculture Department, said preliminary information indicated that crops grown on 41,454 hectares of land have been damaged in the recent rainfall.

Koppal Agriculture Department Joint Director Sadashiva V said crops grown in 18,880 hectares of land have been affected by the recent downpour.

As paddy yield is less this year, the price for the crop has gone above the minimum support price in the market, he explained.

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