Pune: Due to the prolonged dry spell, farmers in Marathwada are in a fix. Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) leaders have blamed India Meteorological Department (IMD) for predicting normal to excess rainfall. They said that if the dry spell continues, farmers may have to carry out resowing on five lakh hectares where sowing was done earlier.
Advocate Yogesh Pande of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana has raised doubts about the monsoon prediction made by the IMD and said that due to this, farmers had to suffer losses. Pande said that as the IMD predicted normal to excess rain, farmers carried out sowing on a massive scale.
As per the sowing report released by State Agriculture Department, sowing has been completed on 84.18 lakh hectares which is 60 per cent of total 139.64 lakh hectares of land without counting sugarcane.
The statistical report released by Agriculture Department on July 7 states that rice replantation has been started in Konkan region and districts like Kolhapur and Pune.
In the State, the sowing is affected in six divisions of Pune, Kolhapur, Aurangabad, Latur, Amravati, and Nagpur. Nagpur division is badly affected. Out of 18.98 lakh hectares of land under cultivation of kharif crop, sowing has been done only on 6.18 lakh hectares which is 33 per cent of the total land under cultivation of kharif crop. Due to prolonged dry spell, paddy replantation is affected worse.
In Pune division, out of 7.39 lakh hectares under kharif plantation, sowing has been done on 3.76 lakh hectares i.e., 51 per cent. The report released by Agricultural Department suggests the condition of newly sown crop is critical. In Kolhapur district out of 8.06 hectares land under cultivation, sowing has been done on 4.13 lakh hectares i.e., 51 per cent. The report states that the jowar crop which is in the growing stage needs rain. Similarly, in Aurangabad division out of 18.87 lakh hectares of land under cultivation, the sowing has been completed on 16.23 lakh hectares. The report states that to complete sowing in the division, rain is required.
In Latur division, out of 27.27 lakh hectares of land, the sowing has been completed on 19.03 hectares, which is 70 per cent of total land under cultivation of kharif crop. In Amravati division, out of 32.68 lakh hectares of land under cultivation, the sowing was completed on 22.20 lakh hectares i.e. 68 per cent of total sowing carried out in kharif season. The report states that rain on July 2 played saviour for the crop but in areas where there was no rain, the growth of crop is badly affected.
