KARIMNAGAR: Farmers in Karimnagar sought more machines to harvest a bumper paddy produce at the earliest to save it from untimely rain and hailstorm. Paddy cultivation increased by about 1 lakh acres in Karimnagar district this Rabi season, thanks to the Kaleshwaram project water filling up local tanks. According to the Agriculture department reports, in the last Rabi season, the crop was cultivated in 1,20,303 acres, but this year it doubled to 2,19,066 acres.
Already, at several areas in the district, farmers were seen drying harvested paddy in open lands before it could be sent to IKP and other government centres for procurement. District Agriculture Office V Sridhar told Express that as the cultivation area increased about 1 lakh acres, the yield was also likely to double. The yield last Rabi season was 2.27 lakh MTs, and this year, it is expected to be 5.14 lakh MTs. Of this, the actual produce will be 3.60 lakh MTs and the remaining would be for seed purpose, Sridhar said. About 1,567 harvesters were available in the district, he said.
Meanwhile, Civil Supplies Minister Gangula Kamalakar said about 1,221 paddy procurement centres were inaugurated in erstwhile Karimnagar district. He asked farmers not to worry about procurement of the produce as nearly every village in the district had procurement centres.
In the wake of the novel Coronavirus outbreak, staff at paddy procurement centres should take precautionary measures, Kamalakar said, directing officials concerned to ensure that all facilities are provided at the centres.
To avoid crop loss caused by untimely rain, authorities should keep tarpaulins ready. Also, paddy should be stored in the same village from where it was procured, he said. Farmers’ bank details should be entered without any error, Kamalakar said.