Deficit rainfall in the first month of the monsoon this year has left farmers in the north coastal districts apprehensive about another bad year, particularly potato farmers in Visakhapatnam. A handsome shower in mid-June sparked hopes of early kharif operations in these three districts -- Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam -- which are generally known for late sowing of paddy. However, the hopes have been belied: agriculture operations in parts of the three districts continue to be hit seriously.Official sources said Visakhapatnam is the worst-hit district by the rainfall deficit of 45 per cent. Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts have rain deficits of 18 per cent and 17 per cent respectively. Met officials said that against a June normal of 128 mm in Visakhapatnam, only 77 mm has been received this year; in Vizianagaram district against a normal of 135 mm, 110 mm of rainfall has been received; and in Srikakulam district only 114 mm has been received against the normal of 137 mm. The early wet spell encouraged farmers to sow. But with no follow-up rains, nurseries are being raised only in 30 per cent of the area in Visakhapatnam; 40 per cent in Vizianagaram and 60 per cent in Srikakulam. It should have been about 80 per cent by now normally, said an agriculture official.Even when rainfall is meagre in the plains, Agency areas receive good rainfall and are generally ahead in farm operations for kharif. But the scenario is relatively dull this year with the landscape yet to acquire a lush tinge of green. Even the Agency areas are in rain-deficit.“Paddy in some pockets of Visakhapatnam may be affected if there is no rain for the next few days,” an official said. However, he admit alarm in respect of non-paddy agriculture operations, which have not reached decent levels yet. The sugarcane crop (40,000 ha in Visakhapatnam) is likely to be the most affected as it needs more water than paddy. In Vizianagaram also against the normal area of 1.5 lakh ha of paddy, farm operations are in full swing only in 40 per cent of the area. In Srikakulam district nurseries are being raised only in 60 per cent against the normal area of 2.5 lakh ha of paddy.
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