The worries of cotton growers in Yadgir district persist for two reasons. One is low production and the other is a price crash in the open market.
The target of cotton sowing in the Kharif season for the district was 1.86 lakh hectares. Of this, 1.78 lakh hectares were covered. Pre-monsoon rains that the district experienced revived hopes among growers in rain-fed areas for a good yield. But, when there was a shortage in the expected rains, they started managing water-standing crops via tankers on rent. This has left many farmers more worried and as a result of short rainfall; they are now getting 4 to 5 quintals of yield per acre. If they had seen good rains, the production would have reached up to 10-12 quintals per acre.
“Many of farmers in our and surrounding villages have got just 3-4 quintals yield per acre due to shortage of rains. Now, they are worried about even half of the return of what they spent for sowing seeds, chemicals, fertilizers and rent for tanker water,” Vijay Kumar Gulagi, a farmer in Satyampet village in Shorapur taluk, told The Hindu.
