Already pushed to a breaking level by the Covid-19 pandemic over the previous two years, Karnataka’s agrarian neighborhood had pinned its hope on a bountiful kharif harvest.
But the incessant rain and a few flash floods have brought about big loss to farmers who may take three to 4 years to get better.
The rains, which have been brought on by a cyclonic melancholy, have severely affected the arid districts of south-interior Karnataka, notably in Kolar, Tumakuru, Ramanagara, Chikkaballapur and Bengaluru Rural.
Labelled ‘drought-stricken’ districts for many years, this season’s rainfall has damaged a number of data, with many individuals saying they’d not seen such intense rain for greater than 45 years.
Data from the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Cell (KSNDMC) exhibits the whole state acquired 142 mm rainfall in November, as towards the 39 mm it receives on a mean — almost 263% deviation from the norm.
Some districts have acquired 4 instances the quantity of rain they obtain every year.
“The unprecedented rain has submerged huge swathes of farm land with standing crops ready for harvest. Several streams and rivers that had dried out sprang to life, breaching tanks and triggering flash floods,” stated Anjaneya Reddy, a farmer and activist in Chikkaballapur.
Contrary to their normal annual prayers, the farmers at the moment are entreating the gods to make the rain cease.
“The rain has brought us starvation. We have been sitting idle for two months without work,” stated Jayamma, a labourer at a floriculture farm in Chowdenahalli of Kolar district.
Jayamma says her household of six has needed to skip meals as their incomes have crashed.
“Forget us, even our farm owner has also struggled to come to terms with the severe damage,” she stated.
The sudden change within the climate has equally impacted each staple and business crops, inflicting harm in lots of of crores.
“Covid snatched away everything. While our investment (plants, soil preparation) was unaffected during the pandemic, the incessant rains have forced us to start from scratch. It may take another four to five years to recover the losses,” stated S Harish of Vapasandra in Chikkaballapur, whose winery was submerged below 4 toes of water for nearly every week.
“I have to uproot all the plants that I nurtured for five years. It will take at least five years for me to get the yield I was getting all these days,” Harish rued.
Across the state, grape farmers have suffered losses of Rs 2 to three lakh per acre; vegetable cultivators have suffered losses to the tune of Rs 1 to 2 lakh per acre.
N Jyothi, one other farmer from Chikkaballapur, says her whole crop of ragi (finger millet) has been worn out. “Due to the initial rain, the standing crop was flattened. As the rains continued along with the cloudy conditions, the earheads began to sprout. We have lost the crop. We are hoping to at least use the straw as fodder for the livestock provided there are no further rains,” she stated.
A preliminary estimate by the agriculture division has revealed that almost 40% of the 6.88 lakh hectares of standing crop has been worn out.
Alongside the harm brought on by the rains, subsequent climate patterns with excessive ranges of humidity and elevated moisture in soil have destroyed the vegetable crops utterly.
“The beetroot we cultivated in an acre of land has caught fungus. The tomato, chilli and cabbage crop has also been lost completely,” stated Lakshmamma, a farmer in Pillagundlahalli of Sidlaghatta taluk in Chikkaballapur.
Srinivas, a farmer from close by Nallojanahalli village, stated the stagnant water brought about his cauliflower crop to “blossom.”
Along with Tumakuru, Chikkaballapur is the worst-affected district, with Kolar coming third.
Farmers are additionally dismayed by the present compensation introduced by the federal government.
On a mean, it prices round Rs 1.5 lakh to domesticate an acre of tomato. The authorities is paying out Rs 6,800 per hectare for rainfed crops and Rs 13,500 per hectare for irrigated crops.
The Kolar Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC), thought-about Asia’s second largest tomato market, acquired simply 50% of its normal provide in November.
On two days final week, when the rain had peaked, the provision had dropped to 4,000 quintals per day, as towards the same old provide of 25,000 quintals per day this month.
T S Ravikumar, secretary, Kolar APMC stated, “After reaching a high of Rs 100 per kg, tomato is now selling for Rs 50 per kg,” including that it’ll take at the very least three months for the APMC to get again to normalcy.
Poor upkeep of water our bodies
The unseasonal rain has additionally uncovered the poor administration of water our bodies in these drought-stricken areas. The rampant encroachment and degradation of those water our bodies and their feeder canals additionally displays poorly on the Minor Irrigation division, the custodian of those water our bodies.
“Despite being labelled as drought-stricken, the undivided Kolar district has more than 4,000 water
bodies. Had they been maintained well during the drought season, they could
have minimised the damage to a certain extent. The dried up ground cannot absorb much water, so it just runs off. But the network of these 4,000 tanks and lakes could have checked the overflow and retained half of it at least,” Anjaneya Reddy stated.
The ensuing neglect has seen homes and fields flooded and the erosion of valuable topsoil.
“We lost an opportunity to store and percolate water. It would require years for us to get back to normal,” stated Okay Ramu Shivanna and G Narayanaswamy, farmer leaders in Kolar.
Kolar DC stated that by July, the district administration had cleared encroachment of round 40 lakes and was about to proceed the method when the rains hit. “This is a continuous process and requires a lot of convincing,” he stated.
Shockingly, lakes that have been repaired a number of instances within the current previous by the Minor Irrigation division have additionally been breached.
“The Agrahara Anjaneya Lake near Nallojanahalli has breached five times in the last 10 years. The engineers had repaired the lake bund after spending several crores. But the lake has breached yet again. What action will the government initiate against the contractors and engineers for executing such poor work?” requested Anitha D, the farmer from Nallojanahalli Majire in Chikkaballapur district.
Manjunath’s tomato area, positioned simply downstream of the lake, was washed away utterly.
“The flowing water was at least seven feet high. Nearly three to four feet of topsoil has been washed away. Now, it will cost several lakhs to top it up with fresh soil so I can cultivate a new crop,” he stated.
Villagers alleged that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who visited the lake late within the night throughout his rain harm survey, hardly had time to take heed to the farmers.
Anitha defined, “The Deputy Commissioner who visited the lake a few days prior to the CM’s visit, had told us that she will order soil tests before taking up any repair work as the problem seems to be with the soil. But to date, no action has been taken.”
Government response
The state authorities has began disbursing compensation in a couple of districts. “Even as the survey is on (expected to be over by November 30) the compensation is being offered simultaneously. The intention is to offer immediate help,” stated Brijesh Kumar Dikshit, Commissioner of Agriculture.
Alongside this, the Agriculture division can be coordinating with the insurance coverage firms for immediate insurance coverage fee for localised dangers and post-harvest losses. “The payment should start next week itself,” Dikshit stated.
However, information exhibits that the enrollment in crop insurance coverage schemes has at all times been low. This yr, simply 11.97 lakh hectares of agricultural crops have been insured, out of a complete insurable space of 65 lakh hectares.
Many farmers DH met throughout area visits stated they really feel clean when they consider the long run. A helpline that gives related data and even emotional assist and counselling would assist them endure this disaster.
As a safety measure, agricultural scientists within the state are additionally growing and sharing appropriate methods to assist farmers get by way of the unpredictability of the climate.
“We are working on providing seeds that can withstand drought as well as a few days of waterlogging along with techniques to modify seed dormancy,” stated S Rajendra Prasad, Vice-Chancellor, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore.
(With inputs from Anitha Pailoor in Kolar)