Agricultural News

He was unable to irrigate his paddy fields as the borewells in his land ran dry due to a decline in the groundwater table. In a desperate effort to save his crops, he borrowed money from various sources to drill three new borewells.  Medak: Depleting groundwater table, withering paddy crop and failed borewells pushed a farmer to suicide at Kushangadda Thanda in Kowdipally mandal on Saturday. He was Devula Nayak (50), who owned four and half acres of land in the village. He had hired four acres of a landlord in the village. He could not irrigate the paddy fields as borewells went dry in his field due to fall in groundwater table. In a desperate attempt to save crops, the farmers drilled three borewells by borrowing amounts from various sources. However, all the three borewells failed. As his debts rose to Rs 3 lakhs, Nayak, who had no hope of getting profits on the yasangi harvest, decided to end his life. Nayak left his home on Friday. He was found hanging from a tree on the outskirts of Rajipet forests by his family members on Saturday. The police registered a case.

Facing a prolonged dry spell, farmers in the erstwhile Medak district are manually watering unsprouted seeds due to delayed rainfall. With reservoirs dry and paddy transplanting delayed, anxiety grows as rainfall deficits worsen across Medak, Siddipet and Sangareddy.  An extended dry spell across the erstwhile Medak district has left farmers in distress, forcing them to manually water seeds sown in anticipation of monsoon rains. With no sign of rainfall, many seeds have failed to sprout, prompting farmers to use tanks, pots, sprinklers and sprayers to try and save their crops. Farmers in the region have sown cotton, maize, soybean and other rainfed crops over large tracts of land. However, the prolonged absence of rain has severely affected germination. In many areas, desperate farmers were seen transporting water in containers and manually irrigating their fields.

Medak: A fire broke out in the Rayalapur forest area in Kowdipally mandal of Medak district, prompting the Forest Department to rope in fire tenders to douse the flames on Wednesday night. A fire broke out in the Rayalapur forest area of Medak district on Wednesday night. Fire tenders were deployed by the Forest Department to control the blaze. No casualties have been reported so far, officials said.

Erstwhile Medak district received heavy rains throughout Monday under the influence of cyclone Gulab. With the district receiving continuous rains since Sunday, major water bodies such as Singur, Shanigaram, Edupayala and Pocharam Dam were overflowing. Singur recorded inflows of 40,000 cusecs from upstream Manjeera, forcing irrigation authorities to release equal amount of water downstream […] With the district receiving continuous rains since Sunday, major water bodies such as Singur, Shanigaram, Edupayala and Pocharam Dam were overflowing. Singur recorded inflows of 40,000 cusecs from upstream Manjeera, forcing irrigation authorities to release equal amount of water downstream the river course. Normal life was thrown out of gear as the rain refused to relent throughout the day. The District administration was on alert with the civic staff on duty throughout the day. The officials urged the ctizens not to venture out of their homes unless there was an emergency. Medak Collector S Harish called upon the people not to visit any water bodies until the rain relents. Haldi Vagu, Pedda Vagu, Moya Tummeda Vagu, Nalla Vagu, Nakka Vagu, Siddipet Vagu and several other streams were in spate.

As part of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Protest programmes, the farmers and TRS cadre across the erstwhile Medak district have hoisted black flags on their houses to register the protests against the Centre government which has refused to procure the Yasangi paddy. Andole MLA Chanti Kranhi and his family members have hoisted black flags […] As part of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Protest programmes, the farmers and TRS cadre across the erstwhile Medak district have hoisted black flags on their houses to register the protests against the Centre government which has refused to procure the Yasangi paddy. Andole MLA Chanti Kranhi and his family members have hoisted black flags on their house at Potulboguda village in Vatpally Mandal on Friday. Speaking on the occasion, the MLA has said that the party workers and several farmers have hoisted the flag following their call. He has demanded the Centre to concede to their demand of purchasing 100 per cent of Yasangi paddy harvest from Telangana. The party leaders took out rallies and burned the effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the Central Government. The protesting cadre performed the final rites to the effigy of Narendra Modi in Sidipet for ignoring the welfare of the farmers. TRS DIstrict President Sangareddy Chintha Prabhakar and his followers have staged protests across Sangaredy Constituency. The MLAs and other elected representatives have led the protest programmes across the three districts.

Farmers rushed to the procurement centres to cover their paddy heaps with tarpaulins. Since the procurement of the paddy was going on at a snail’s pace, most of the paddy was still at the procurement centres.  Untimely rains lashed several places in Siddipet district and isolated pockets of Sangareddy and Medak districts. The paddy brought to procurement centres across the erstwhile Medak district was drenched in rainwater. Farmers rushed to the procurement centres to cover their paddy heaps with tarpaulins. Since the procurement of the paddy was going on at a snail’s pace, most of the paddy was still at the procurement centres.

Farmers across Telangana are facing a severe fund crunch ahead of the vanakalam season due to delayed Rythu Bharosa payments, incomplete loan waivers, stalled procurement payments and limited access to fresh crop loans. As the Southwest monsoon was fast approaching, the farmers across the State are finding it difficult to mobilise funds for investment on cultivation of crops in the coming vanakalam season. Since the Congress government denied Rytu Bharosa during the last yasangi restricting the incentive to just two acres, it had left farmers disappointed. As the Congress government, which promised Rs two lakh loan waiver to all the farmers after coming to power, failed to complete the loan waiver process, more than 50 per cent of the farmers could not get any new crop loans except renewing their existing loans.