Monsoon is here, but late arrival leaves Malnad planters jittery

Growers anticipate bad year in terms of production owing to highest departure of rainfall

June 24, 2019 10:47 pm | Updated 10:48 pm IST - Hassan/Shivamogga

A farmer taking his cattle and sheep in search of water for them near Mayagondanahalli in Belur taluk. Photo by Prakash Hassan

A farmer taking his cattle and sheep in search of water for them near Mayagondanahalli in Belur taluk. Photo by Prakash Hassan

Monsoon has just entered Karnataka, but the delay in its arrival has severely affected the four districts of the hilly Malnad region — Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru, Kodagu, and Hassan. The late arrival is expected to hit plantation crops in this region, which traditionally receives very heavy rains.

Among the four regions in the State, the highest departure in rainfall from the normal, expected during the first few weeks, is witnessed in the Malnad region. Between June 1 and 24, the normal rainfall expected here was 253 mm, while the actual received rainfall is only 140.4 mm, recording the departure at -44.5%.

People in this region, where all prominent rivers of the State take birth, are facing acute shortage of drinking water. Agriculture activities have been badly hit. The growers of plantation crops are anticipating the worst year in terms of production.

Areca and coffee

Arecanut palms have started withering even in places known for high rainfall. Chandrashekhar Shetty, a resident of Manjagalale in Hosanagar taluk, told The Hindu that the arecanut palms in Hiremane and Nagodi villages located on the foothill of Kodachadri, known for high rainfall, have started withering owing to water shortage.

Coffee growers too are anticipating a bad year. U.M. Thirthamallesh, president of the Karnataka Growers’ Federation, a body of coffee growers, said: “Even if we receive good rains now on, there are no signs of improvement in our situation.” He said last year by this time many parts of Sakleshpur had received over 1,200 mm of rainfall for the whole year, while this year only 210 mm has been recorded so far. Similarly, in parts of Chikkamagaluru this year, around 260 mm of rainfall has been recorded against last year’s record of 760 mm. “With this, the drought period has prolonged, impacting the setting of coffee. There will be a huge dip in production,” he said.

Amidst the grim situation, the rains in the last couple of days in several parts of the region have prompted farmers to hope for better days ahead. Kiran Kumar M., Deputy Director of Department of Agriculture in Shivamogga, said that the district will receive widespread rain from June 23 and the South West Monsoon will become further active by July first week.

Of the total 1.6 lakh hectare of cultivable land in Shivamogga, the sowing for kharif season has taken place only on 3,770 hectares. The potato growers of Hassan are worried about losing the crop this year, with no rains after sowing. Krishnamurthy, a farmer in Arsikere taluk, said: “With the rain received so far, we can grow ragi, nothing else.”

Drinking water situation

In rural areas of Malnad districts, villagers depend on small water sources in the hilllocks (locally known as abbi ).

For the residents of Manjagalale hamlet in the vicinity of Kodachadri in Nittur Grama Panchayat of Hosanagar taluk, the abbi went dry as early as first week of May. Now, they get drinking water through tankers, unheard of in this region.

In Shivamogga district alone, 136 villages get drinking water through tankers. The residents of Shivamogga town are getting water on alternate days.

The situation is no better in neighbouring Chikkamagaluru. Arsikere taluk in Hassan is one among the worst drought-hit in the State.

At present, 29 villages are getting water through tankers and in another 30 places, the taluk administration is managing the supply by taking over private borewells.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.