Farming practice has always been a shaky fate for farmers, and this is all the more true during the COVID-19 era as they grapple with uncertainty with the partial curfew.
With this in mind, farmers resorted to micro-level planning during the Kharif to take advantage of the southwest monsoon, which is expected to set in during these two weeks.
Conditions are favorable to start growing various rainy crops, with the Indian Ministry of Weather forecasting a normal monsoon, says joint director of agriculture, PV Sriramamurthy.
With the help of village-level committees, an action plan has been drawn up to plant crops on a record 2.40 lakh hectares, up from the normal 2.12 lakh hectares.
Pattern at the village level
Typically, farmers opt for the crop that peaked in the preseason without fully understanding the demand-supply dynamics, which could lead to losses.
Thanks to contributions from the Ministry of Agriculture, after discovering future price trends in the commodity market, farmers at the grassroots level opted for a harvest pattern at the village level, according to Mareddy Subba Reddy, President of the Farmer Wing of the YSR Congress Party in Prakasam.
Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs) play a key role in making decisions about cultivation and the extent of cultivation.
Based on the recommendations of the Agriculture Councils, it was decided to grow legumes on a record 1.12 lakh hectares, including red grams (99,000 hectares), black grams (8,500), green grams (4,000), rice (30,000), bajra (12,000) and other smaller millets (2,700).
“We convinced the farmers not to cultivate a rice field under well irrigation and to avoid varieties like NLR 34449, which they are difficult to market,” says Sriramamurthy.
Subsidized seeds
Instead, farmers could opt for varieties like BPT 2270 and BPT 5204. The department has so far positioned 54,000 tons of fertilizer for distribution to ryots versus the 87,000 tons required during the Kharif season, in addition to 5,500 quintals of green manure and 8,000 quintals of paddy fertilizer for sowing, on grant. This year subsidized seeds of crops such as chilli and cotton will be supplied. The department is working to provide a Crop Cultivator Rights Card (CCRC) to over 39,000 tenant farmers in this Kharif, the official says.