Kharif sowing gains ground in Telangana after a month of monsoon setbacks

Kharif sowing in Telangana rebounded significantly after mid-July rains, reaching 82.92 lakh acres, well above last year’s mark. Cotton dominated the acreage, with paddy also showing strong progress.

Hyderabad: Kharif sowing across Telangana witnessed a notable recovery, driven by mid-July rainfall that helped farmers make up for early delays. According to official data, the total sown area reached 82.92 lakh acres as of Saturday, surpassing last year’s corresponding figure of 73.65 lakh acres, and marking a sharp jump from 68.8 lakh acres the previous week.

Cotton remained the dominant crop, covering 43.38 lakh acres, though still trailing the target of 50 lakh acres. Paddy transplantation accelerated across regions, covering 25.53 lakh acres, followed by maize (4.52 lakh acres), soybean (4.26 lakh acres), and red gram (4.19 lakh acres). Minor pulses like green gram and black gram saw limited coverage, along with jowar.

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The mid-July downpours boosted sowing activities, particularly in southern districts. However, northern Telangana faced severe setbacks due to flooding, crop washouts and waterlogging. In districts such as Mulugu, Jayashankar Bhupalpally, and Bhadradri Kothagudem, farmers suffered losses due to crop damage. Nevertheless, approximately 80% of the affected lands are expected to recover as conditions improve.

With the southwest monsoon showing signs of stabilisation, officials are cautiously optimistic about reaching near-normal sowing levels by mid-August. Paddy transplantation, which covered nearly 10 lakh acres by July 16, picked up momentum following widespread rainfall during the past week in all the major paddy-growing districts such as Nizamabad, Kamareddy, Nalgonda and Suryapet.

Much of the area that showed a marked improvement in Kharif sowing was reported to be rain-fed. Even though storage levels in the major and medium irrigation projects improved considerably, water releases were made mainly to cater to drinking water needs until July 20. The irrigation schedule for Kharif crops has just commenced under the Nagarjuna Sagar Left Canal, which has a net ayacut of around 6.4 lakh acres in Telangana.

Kharif activity under the Godavari basin projects such as Sriramsagar, Nizam Sagar and Mid Manair, due to poor inflows and suspended operations at Kaleshwaram pump houses, is yet to take off in a full-fledged manner for want of inflows.