Food grain crunch hits state

Hyderabad

Sept. 23: The deficient rainfall has turned 50 lakh acres of fertile fields in the state into brownish barren
swathes of land.
With the southwest monsoon coming to a close by the month-end, there is no relief possible now and food grain production is likely to be just half of what it was in 2008, with a consequent surge in prices.
In the Kharif season, sowing was carried on only 1.45 crore acres as against the normal 1.98 crore acres.
The price of paddy, ragi, jowar, groundnut, sugarcane and turmeric is likely to rise steeply with the fall in production.
As against 204 lakh metric tonnes of food grains produced in the state last year, the output this year may not be more than150 lakh metric tonnes.
The state agriculture department has plenty to worry about as reports of continuing drought pour in from the districts.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has said there is little chance of rainfall in the next one week as the South-West monsoon is drawing to a close.
“Rainfall deficit is around 30 per cent. The season ends by September 30 though there is a chance of rains in October. But that is not taken into consideration when we assess the performance of the South-West monsoon,” said Mr M. Satyakumar, director of the Hyderabad Meteorological Centre.
Farmers’ associations have sought relief from the government which has declared 971 mandals in the state as drought-hit.