Pre-monsoon showers seem to have kick started farming activities in Belagavi district. Farmers have begun land preparation, including cleaning, weeding, ploughing and levelling.
Farmers are employing labour to clean the fields. They are also booking seeds and fertilisers from Raitha Samparka Kendras and primary agriculture cooperative societies.
Belagavi is among the biggest districts in the State and it has varied climatic zones. Taluks like Khanapur and Belagavi on the western side are closer to the Western Ghats and receive rainfall up to 1,400 mm per year.
However, taluks like Athani and Ramdurg that border Vijayapura and Bagalkot districts have higher temperatures and lower rainfall, up to 500-700 mm. Most of the 14 taluks received light to heavy showers in the last month.
Officials estimate that the total cultivated area will go up to around 7.4 lakh hectares, up from 6.77 lakh hectares last year.
Cultivation was lower last year, due to the scarce rainfall. But, this time, crop coverage can increase by around 10-20 per cent in the taluks. Percentage of increase will be higher in Belagavi, Khanapur, Chikkodi, Hukkeri, Ramdurg, Kittur, Gokak, Mudalagi and other taluks.
This year’s cultivation is expected to be, grain on around 3.1 lakh hectares, oil seeds 1.1 lakh hectares and others on 3.4 lakh hectares.
The most popular crops in the region are green gram, black gram, red gram, groundnut, maize, millets, hybrid jowar, sunflower, soya, among others. Commercial crops such as sugarcane, tobacco, grapes and horticultural crops like coconut, tapioca and mango are cultivated in around 60,000 hectares.
Around two lakh tonnes of fertilisers and around 60,000 quintals of seeds will be required during the season. Seeds and fertilisers will be sold at 35 Raitha Samparka Kendras and primary agriculture cooperative societies. There is no scarcity of either seeds or fertilisers, according to Joint Director of Agriculture Shivanagouda Patil said.
