Despite heavy rains & floods, Telangana farmers hope for normal kharif output

With flood waters receding, farmers in Telangana, particularly in the rain and flood-affected districts of Khammam, Mahboobabad and Warangal districts, are busy assessing the status of their crops. 

According to official estimates, crops in about 5 lakh acres have been damaged. “Cotton, paddy and chili crops in these districts were damaged. In the rest of the State, the situation is good,” a top seed industry executive told businessline.

The total cropped area has crossed the 50-lakh hectare (lh) mark, a tad lower than 52 lh a year ago. However, officials hope that there’s still some time to cover the remaining areas. Both paddy and cotton have reached the targeted area of 24.50 lh and 18 lh respectively.

Rains and the subsequent floods in August and September threaten to inundate crops in a large extent. “Fortunately, the flood waters receded quickly and the intensity of the rains has come down. The damage was much less than what we anticipated initially,” a government official said.

Rabi hopeful

Copious rains hold good promise for the rabi season. Groundwater levels, which fell significantly across the State last year, have gone up because of the extensive rains in the last few weeks.