Bengaluru, DHNS: Rain deficit in August, September ranged from 31-39%. With parts of 110 taluks of the total 177 reeling under drought, Karnataka is set to see a considerable reduction in food grain production.

The food grain target for the state during 2016-17 has been fixed at around 140 lakh metric tonnes (MT). The target for the kharif season, from mid-May to mid-October, has been put at 101 lakh MT, while for the rabi season, from mid-October to December-end, it is 38 lakh MT.

A conservative estimate projects the output reduction in the range of 10 to 15% of the target, according to official sources.

With the south-west monsoon disappointing farmers in August and September, agricultural enterprise has taken a nosedive. But two districts which are an exception to this are Bidar and Kalaburagi. These two districts received heavy rains due to the cyclonic effect. Standing crops in vast tracts of land were washed away due to the flash floods.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, in June, had announced that normal monsoon, as predicted, would enable farmers to commence early preparation of their land for sowing. In 2015-16, the food grain production was 110 lakh MT, owing to drought in 137 taluks, he had pointed out.

Severe crisis

All the calculations of the agriculture department have gone haywire due to severe paucity of rains. This is more so in Mandya, Mysuru, Hassan, Tumakuru, Ramanagaram, Chikkaballapur, Kolar, Chitradurga, Bengaluru Urban and Bengaluru Rural districts. These districts contribute mainly to the kharif production which includes paddy, ragi, jowar, maize, bajra, besides cash crops. Nearly 70% of the food grain production is during the Kharif period.

The state, as a whole, is facing rain deficit of 18%, which is considered normal. But crop loss is also taken into consideration for assessing drought. Agriculture activities suffered in August and September, with rain deficit ranging from 31 to 39% in the state. The dry spell in these months continued for more than 45 days, the official sources said.

To a question whether the state has kept an unreasonable target to achieve 140 lakh MT this year, the sources said the target was fixed going by the production in 2013-14. The target was 130 lakh MT, but the production was 133.10 lakh MT then.

Consecutive droughts

The state, over the years, has been facing difficulty in meeting the food grain target, because of consecutive droughts. For example, in 2012-13, 157 taluks were declared drought-hit. The food grain target was 137 lakh MT, while the production was nearly 109 lakh MT. One of the worst drought years was 2002-03 and the food grain production had dipped to 66 lakh MT against the target of 90 lakh MT.

It was in August this year that the government realised that the south-west monsoon would be below normal.

It suggested farmers to go for semi-dry crops, instead of water-intensive crops such as paddy or sugar cane. But by then, sowing activities were almost complete, the sources said.

‘Dryland farmers worst-hit’

Dr Subramanya, retired IAS?officer, said dryland farmers are the worst-affected whenever there is drought. The income of farmers, especially small and marginal, reduces drastically. To have cash on hand, farmers raise non-institutional loans and get trapped in debt.

However, he said, reduction in production would not lead to non-availability of grains in the market. “When we take India as a unit, food grain availability will be balanced. The country also imports food grains whenever there is a shortage,” he added.