Krishna: One drizzle does not a monsoon make

Farmer V Srinivasulu of Veleru village is a worried man. The rains have not been enough for him to start paddy transplantation in his 12 acres so far. And the time is running out.The same situation is prevailing in the upland areas of Krishna district: no paddy transplantation due to lack of rain.Ironically, the district received an average of 138 mm June against 85 mm last year. But all the rain occurred on one day (June 7) and then began a dry spell until July 2.In the Krishna delta region, farmers started the transplantation work now as water was released to canals on June 25. The delay in monsoon is likely to bring down the area under paddy cultivation in the district.Agriculture joint director K Venugopala Rao said some 2.60 lakh hectares will be sown to paddy this year. Discouraged by the dry spell, farmers have not taken up cultivation of pulses including groundnut, green gram and black gram.Telugu Rytu leader Ch Anjaneyulu said farmers are not coming forward to take up paddy cultivation, especially in the upland areas. Vast acres are likely to remain fallow during this kharif season. Though officials expect paddy acreage of 2.60 lakh hectares, the actual sown area is likely to come down.In Guntur district too, transplanted paddy has withered in 35,000 acres. The district has received 36.3 mm rainfall in June against 140 mm last year. Paddy cultivation takes up 1.85 lakh hectares and chili 1.75 lakh hectares in kharif.Farmer V Krishnaiah of Munipalli village said his transplanted paddy has already dried up.In addition, vegetable crops are getting damaged as farmers are unable to irrigate them due to unscheduled power cuts.