Drought scene to worsen in State

The

prevailing drought situation is likely to worsen in the coming days as the

chances of revival of monsoon in August appears to be bleak, according to

weather experts.According

to the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) officials, between

June 1 and August 2, the State received 259.9 mm

rainfall as against the normal 490.03 thus recording a deficit of 46 per cent.

And this has resulted in a drought like situation at several places. “The

sowing of pulses such as greengram and tur, cereal crops such as ragi, paddy

and bajra have already been affected. Though theIndian

Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that the monsoon is likely to improve by

the end of Augustfirst

week, the situation is unlikely to improve the agriculture scenario,” KSNDMC

director V S Prakash said. According to IMD officials, the monsoon is affected

by the EL Nino phenomenon, an abnormal warming of surface ocean waters in the

eastern tropical Pacific. Of the total 747 hoblis in the State, 579 hoblis (77

percent) fall under deficit and scanty rainfall category. As per agriculture

commission 1976, if there are four or more consecutive dry spells week (rainfall

less than 50 per cent of the normal in an area) then it is said to be drought

hit.During

the Southwest monsoon this year, 138 hoblis in the state have experienced four

or more consecutive dry spells. Though the state had faced similar situation in

2009 and 2002, disaster management official claim that the water level in the

reservoirs were better compared to the present period.As

on July 29, the water levels at major hydroelectric generation reservoirs like

at Linganamakki, Supa and Varahi, slightly increased, the levels is still less

when compared to the corresponding period for the last 15 years.Similar

is the situation in reservoirs of Kaveri

Basin,

Hemavathi and Kabini. However, to tackle the situation, the agriculture

department and universities have prepared contingency plans and are advising

farmers to opt for short duration and low water requirement variety of crops

such as ragi, maize, blackgram, cowpea and sunflower.Also,

they are said to be working on the option of early-rabi cropping pattern. The

major rabi crops of Karnataka are wheat, barley, mustard, sesame, and peas. Thus,

with the shortage of food grain production during the season, the prices of

commodities are likely to go up in the coming months.