This story is from July 28, 2020

Farmers in Mysuru, C’nagar start preparations for paddy cultivation

Farmers in Mysuru, C’nagar start preparations for paddy cultivation
Mysuru/Chamarajanagar: In the wake of the Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Ltd making an announcement assuring farmers of releasing water to the irrigation canals of the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) and Kabini dams in the last week of July, sowing of kharif crop in the region is likely to intensify, with many farmers preparing their land for the water-intensive crop.
In Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts, farmers have started tilling the land, and are ridding their plots of weeds, in the hope of a bumper harvest, which the early release of water to the canals has made more likely.
In the meanwhile, ryots in Mandya district are working in full swing for the sowing of sugarcane.
Joint director of agriculture department Mahanteshappa told STOI that in Mysuru district, they had set a target for a harvest of eight lakh metric tonnes of paddy. “We have been distributing a wide variety of paddy seeds to farmers through the primary agriculture cooperative societies. We have stocked up on nitrogenous, phosphorus, urea and compost fertilisers to meet the farmers’ requirements,” he added.
Last week, Mysuru district in-charge minister ST Somashekar announced that water would soon be released to the irrigation canals, bringing much joy to the farmers. The copious rain in the catchment areas of the Cauvery River has pushed the water level in the KRS and Kabini dams closer to its brim.
In Mysuru district, paddy is being cultivated across 95,000 hectares, while it is grown across 19,000 hectares in Chamarajanagar. In Mandya, of the total area under irrigation of 1,16,901 hectares, 88,000 hectares are fed by the KRS Dam, while 16,000 hectares are nourished by the waters from the Hemavathi Reservoir. Nearly half the irrigated agricultural land in the district is earmarked for the cultivation of sugarcane.
Karigowda, a paddy farmer in T Narasipur taluk, said that he grew the crop on eight acres last year, and was expectant of a bumper harvest this year.
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