Report on field visit of Dr.R.S.Saini to Gulbarga and yadgir Districts of Karnataka to monitor the rainfall situation and crop coverage Summary 1. Rainfall for the state from 1st June to 22nd July was deficit (-21%). It was normal in the month of June (1.84%) but in July departure in rainfall was -44% thus making the overall rainfall also deficit during south west monsoon period. However, great variation has been observed among various districts, talukas and hoblis (Revenue circle). For the state as whole as on 22.07.2015 Rainfall in sixteen districts was normal, in 13 districts as deficit and one district received scanty rainfall. Overall rainfall in Yadgir and Gulbarga districts was also deficit i.e. -53% and -44% respectively during this period. However, some variation was observed among different talukas of these two districts. 2. Total area coverage under all crops in the state as on 22.07.2015 was 33.67 lakh ha (90.73%) against the 37.11 lakh ha covered in the corresponding period of last year and 46.12 % of target area of 73 lakh ha during this year. Area coverage under rice, blackgram, greengram, horsegram,cowpea, sesamum and soybean was more than area covered during last year while under all other crops it was less than the last year overage. 3. Twenty percent of the target area under all crops in district Yadgir has been covered up to 21.07.2015. However, area coverage in Taluka Yadgir is 61.58% while in Shapur and Shorapur area coverage is only 9.94% and 1.39% respectively. Low area coverage is due to delayed rains. In case of Gulbarga 37% of the target area and 63% of area covered in last year under all crops has been covered up to 20.07.2015. Out of seven talukas area coverage in two talukas was more than 90%, in one taluka it was 71% and rest of the four talukas it varied from 6%-16%. 4. In general the crops in that have been sown under rainfed conditions were showing signs of wilting but these crops can recover if rains arrive in next 5-7 days. 5. Cluster demonstrations have been planned and are under implementation in both the districts. However, due to delayed rains these demonstrations have not been completed in some of the talukas especially in rice and coarse cereals. 6. Availability of seed of pulses in both the districts is comfortable while seed of paddy in Yadgir district and seed of Jowar, bajra and maize is a problem in Gulbarga district. Availability of all other inputs like micro nutrients, plant protection chemicals and machines and equipments etc is also comfortable. 7. Due to high price of redgram and less price of cotton during last year it is expected that area under redgram will increase and that of cotton will decrease. 1 Due to high price of redgram prevailing in the market farmers have sold their own saved seed and are purchasing certified seed. Price of redgram in the market is about Rs. 8000/qtl and that of certified seed after subsidy is Rs.6500/qtl. It is expected that SRR of redgram which is about 10% will increase considerably. 8. State is providing additional matching grant for enhancing the subsidy on equipments and machines available under NFSM to bring it at par with the subsidy pattern of state which is more than NFSM 9. Under the state scheme one custom hiring center in Yadgir and four in Gulbarga were established during 2014-15 . Six more centers Yadgir district and 14 for Gulbarga districts have been approved during 2015-16. Cost of one custom hiring center is Rs. 75 lakh for which Rs.50 lakh is extended as back ended subsidy and Rs.25 lakh is to be provided by the concerned NGO over a period of two year. Rates for various operations are fixed by a committee headed by CEO of Zila Panchayat. 10. Both the districts are using unspent balance of 2014-15 and are in the process of revising the action plan of 2014-15. 11. Problem encountered in the implementations and suggestions for further improvement have been given by the officers of Department of Agriculture. -------------------------------------------- I visited two districts namely Gulbarga and yadgir of Karnataka state to monitor the rainfall situation and area coverage under various crops. Rainfall situation and area coverage under various crops for the state as a whole was obtained from the state HQ.For crop production, rainfall distribution is more important than total rainfall . Rainfall and area coverage under different crops in the state as a whole and in the districts visited namely Yadgir and Gulbarga (Kalaburgi) gave a different picture. Details of rainfall and area coverage in the state as well as in these two districts is given below: State as a whole: Rainfall Karnataka state is divided into 30 districts, 176 talukas and 747 hobli (Revenue circles. Rainfall in the state as a whole during south-west monsoon is deficit (-21%). However, great variation has been observed among various districts and talukas. Rainfall in sixteen districts was normal, in 13 districts as deficit and one district received scanty rainfall. Rainfall for the state during June was normal (1.84%). In June rainfall in 10 district was in excess, in 12 districts was normal and only 8 districts had deficit rainfall. In the month of July (up to 22nd ) rainfall was normal only in four districts, it was deficit in 16 2 districts and scanty in 10 districts. District wise rainfall in the month of June , July and total rainfall from 1st June up to 22nd July 2015 is given in Table 1. As far as individual talukas are concerned rainfall from June 1st up to July 22nd 2015 in 13 talukas was excess, in 78 talukas normal, in 75 talukas as deficit and in 10 talukas scanty from . Similarly 93 hoblis received excess, 283 normal,311 deficit and 60 as scanty rainfall up to 22.07.2015. Area Coverage: State as a whole: Crop wise area coverage in the state as on 22.07.2015 is given in Table 2. Total area coverage was 33.67 lakh ha (91%) against the 37.11 lakh ha covered in the corresponding period of last year and 46 % of target area of 73 lakh ha during this year. Area coverage under rice, blackgram, greengram, horsegram,cowpea, sesamum and soybean was more than area covered during last year while under all other major crops it was less than the last year coverage. .District yadgir : Rainfall in the district up to 21.07.2015 as a whole was deficient (-53%). Out of three talukas in the district, rainfall was deficient in two talukas (Shahpur -47% and Yadgir -42%) and scanty in one Taluka (Shorapur -77%). Rainfall in the month of June was deficient (-52%) for the district while it was deficient in Shahpur (-37%) and Yadgir (-45%) and scanty in Shorapur (-78%). Similar pattern was observed in July also (Table 3) Twenty percent of the target area under all crops in district Yadgir has been covered up to 21.07.2015. However, area coverage in Taluka Yadgir is 61.58% while in Shahpur and Shorapur area coverage is only 9.94% and 1.39% respectively. Crop wise and talukas wise area coverage is given in Table 4. Area coverage in Shorapur taluka compared to targeted area was only 1.39% and rainfall in this talukas was also scanty (-77%). Condition of the crops that have been sown are showing signs of wilting but can be recovered if rains arrive in the next 5-7 days. Gulbarga District : Rainfall in the district as a whole was deficient (-44%). Out of seven talukas in the district it was normal in one, deficient in four and scanty in two takuka. Rainfall in the month of June was deficit ( -43% ) for the district while taluka wise rainfall was normal in two taluka (Sedam and Chincholi) deficient in three and scanty in two. In the month of July rainfall was normal in one, deficient in four and scanty in two talukas (Table 5). 3 Thirty seven percent of the target area under all crops and 63% of the area covered during last year has been covered up to 20.07.2015. However, area coverage in Taluka Chincholi and Sedam was more than 90% and in Chittapur it was 71%. In rest of the talukas area coverage was between 6% to 16% with minimum coverage being in Jewargi is 6% . Crop wise area coverared compared to area coverage in the corresponding period of last year as well against the target area of 2015 is given in Table 6. Taluka wise area covered compared to target area is given in Table 7. Observations on Implementation of NFSM during 2015-16: Seed Availability:Availability of seed of pulses in both the districts is comfortable . Seed of paddy in yadgir district and of Jowar, bajra and maize in Gulbarga district is a problem. In case of Coarse Cereals there are no varieties of jowar, bajra and maize which are less than 10 year old. Similarly in case of paddy there is only one variety BPT 5404 which is less than 10 year old. Cluster Demonstrations:Due to late communication of NFSM action plan both the districts could not plan cluster demonstrations well in time. Now they have selected those farmers who have purchased and planted certified seed of the recommended varieties especially in redgram. These farmers are being provided with other inputs for the cluster demonstrations. Savings from the seed will be used for increasing the 4 targets. I visited Gowdanhalli village in Sedam talukas of Gulbarga district where inputs were being distributed. The condition of the Tur demonstration was very good as shown in the picture. No demonstration of coarse cereals and rice could be seen as these have not been initiated so far. Increase in area under Redgram: Last year the price of cotton was Rs.4000/Qtl while the price of redgram touched Rs.7500 to 8000/qtl. This year farmers are more inclined towards growing of redgram. It is expected that area under cotton will decrease and that of redgram will increase. Increase SRR in redgram: SRR in redgram is about 10% as informed in Gubarga district but due to increased market rate of redgram i.e. Rs.7500 – 8000 per qtl farmers are selling the farm saved seed and are buying certified seed which is at Rs.6500/qtl after subsidy. Therefore, demand for seed has increased. In Gulbarga districts every year about 800-900 qtl of seed of redgram was sold however, during 2015 about 2400 qts of certified seed of redgarm has already been sold. District has kept about 500 qtl of seed to meet the seed demand which is expected as soon as the rains will come. Planting of pulses on bunds of paddy field: The size of bunds in the paddy fields are very small, therefore, farmers are not opting for planting of pulses on the bunds but are going for intercropping of pulses with paddy. 5 Direct Seeded Rice (DSR): DSR is being promoted and accepted by the farmers. I visited a farmers in district yadgir who has 30 acres of paddy area. During 2014-15 he tried DSR on five acres which was very successful. This year he has planted all the 30 acres with DSR. Other farmers in the area are also following him. On line distribution of subsidy: All the material where subsidy amount is more than Rs.5000.00 is being distributed online. Once the farmers files an application to the agriculture officer, the application is uploaded on the website indicating date and time of receipt of application and a seniority list for each item is maintained. Material is distributed based on the availability of funds, on first come first serve basis and is approved by the Asstt. Director of Agriculture at talukas level. A transparency is being maintained Custom Hiring Centers: Under the state scheme custom hiring centers are being established in the districts. Two NGOs have been identified in all the districts of the state. During 2014-15 one such center was established in yadgir district and four in Gulbarga district. Under the scheme a custom hiring center at a total cost of Rs,75 lakh is to be established in two parts. In the first year Rs.50 lakh is required out of which Rs.37.50 lakh is provided by the state as assistance and Rs.12.5 lakh is to be contributed by the NGO. In the second year and another Rs.12.5 lakh is provided as assistance and Rs.12.5 lakh is to be contributed by the NGOs. Rates of various machines/operations are fixed by a committee headed by CEO of Zila Panchayat. Six such centers have been 6 approved for district Yadgir and 14 such centers have been approved for Gulbarga district. These centers started functioning from march 2015. Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals is the NGO managing these cutom hiring centers in Yadgir and Gulbarga districts. Enhanced Assistance for Machines/Equipments: The financial assistance for some machines/equipments is higher in the stat schemes compared to NFSM norms. State government is providing higher financial assistance for supply of machines/equipments to farmers by providing matching grant from state side. The norms of assistance under the state scheme and NFSM are given in Table 8 . The difference in financial assistance under state scheme and that of NFSm is provided by the state as matching grant. Unspent balance of 2014-15: Both the districts are using unspent balance of 2014-15 and are in the process of revising the action plan of 2014-15 Staff position: Out of gt403 technical post s ingulbarga district 150 are vacant while in case of yadgir out of 155 technical posts 68 are vacant. There is no district consultant n any of the districts while in case of yadgir two TA and in Gulbarga one TA has bn appointed under PMT of NFSM. Problem encountered in Implementation/Suggestion by the Officers Due to drought situation some time a cluster of 100 hectare becomes difficult therefore the size of the cluster be reduced to 50/25 hectares. In some crops like rice, jowar, bajra and maize there is problem of availability of varieties less than 10 year old. Subsidy limit for machines/equipments is less and should be increased . State is putting matching grant to increase the subsidy amount but this leads to lot of administrative work as two bills are to be raised for each equipment/machine. Subsidy on water carrying pipes should be increased Administrative approval for the scheme should be communicated in the month of April or may for timely implementation of the programme. 7 Table 1. District wise Weighted Sl. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 District Name South Interior Karnataka BANGALORE URBAN BANGALORE RURAL RAMANAGARA KOLAR CHIKBALLAPUR TUMKUR CHITRADURGA DAVANAGERE CHAMARAJANAGAR MYSORE MANDYA North Interior Karnataka BELLARY KOPPAL RAICHUR GULBARGA YADGIR BIDAR BELGAUM BAGALKOTE BIJAPUR GADAG HAVERI DHARWAD Malnad SHIMOGA HASSAN CHIKMAGALUR KODAGU Coastal DAKSHINA KANNADA UDUPI UTTARA KANNADA STATE Classification Excess Normal Deficit Scanty Nil Rainfall Average Rainfall Pattern in Karnataka - 22-07-2015 Rainfall Pattern June 2015 Normal (mm) 64.2 71.3 67.9 70.2 63.3 62.6 61.7 49.6 76.0 52.1 89.1 54.1 101.1 69.4 72.8 80.7 113.3 110.8 127.5 137.5 78.0 93.1 86.0 111.1 113.6 358.4 450.4 143.6 301.9 622.4 813.0 939.5 1127.3 645.9 194.90 Actual (mm) 86.6 98.4 74.1 82.9 75.4 69.0 84.7 61.5 85.0 76.6 162.6 76.3 82.4 69.0 57.5 35.0 64.2 56.5 99.7 162.5 51.5 47.1 73.1 137.9 125.3 461.7 485.9 267.0 410.3 826.0 722.4 759.5 808.2 676.0 198.49 %DEP 35 38 9 18 19 10 37 24 12 47 83 41 -18 -1 -21 -57 -43 -49 -22 18 -34 -49 -15 24 10 29 8 86 36 33 -11 -19 -28 5 1.84 Rainfall Pattern June - 2015 Dist. 10 12 8 0 0 Taluk 70 64 35 7 0 Hobli 301 236 172 38 0 8 Rainfall Pattern 1st July to 22nd July 2015 South -West Monsoon Rainfall Pattern 2015 (1st June to 22nd July ) Normal Actual (mm) (mm) %DEP 53.9 31.1 -42 64.5 43.7 -32 59.1 56.2 -5 53.8 24.9 -54 49.8 33.8 -32 57.6 30.6 -47 47.1 31.9 -32 38.4 30.4 -21 69.4 59.6 -14 38.3 11.2 -71 92.7 27.3 -71 35.0 9.2 -74 88.9 30.4 -66 47.3 22.4 -53 44.2 12.1 -73 62.8 30.1 -52 97.6 50.4 -48 92.3 47.8 -48 124.1 53.0 -57 166.7 38.6 -77 46.8 9.4 -80 54.2 9.9 -82 50.7 13.5 -73 124.5 43.4 -65 117.2 30.8 -74 441.6 229.3 -48 578.7 314.7 -46 180.2 72.2 -60 392.4 242.5 -38 675.7 286.5 -58 838.0 589.9 -30 912.8 765.1 -16 1042.4 1016.9 -2 732.2 358.5 -51 200.1 112.6 -44 Rainfall Pattern 1st July to 22nd July 2015 Dist. Taluk Hobli 0 0 11 4 26 109 16 74 297 10 76 330 0 0 0 Normal Actual (mm) (mm) %DEP 118.1 117.7 0 135.8 142.2 5 127.0 130.4 3 124.0 107.8 -13 113.1 109.2 -3 120.2 99.7 -17 108.8 116.6 7 88.0 91.8 4 145.4 144.5 -1 90.4 87.9 -3 181.8 189.8 4 89.1 85.5 -4 190.0 112.8 -41 116.7 91.4 -22 117.0 69.5 -41 143.5 65.1 -55 210.9 114.7 -46 203.1 104.3 -49 251.6 152.7 -39 304.2 201.1 -34 124.8 60.8 -51 147.3 57.1 -61 136.7 86.5 -37 235.6 181.4 -23 230.8 156.1 -32 800.0 691.1 -14 1029.1 800.5 -22 323.8 339.3 5 694.3 652.9 -6 1298.1 1112.8 -14 1651.0 1312.4 -21 1852.3 1524.6 -18 2169.7 1825.3 -16 1378.1 1034.6 -25 395.0 311.1 -21 South -West Monsoon Rainfall Pattern 2015 (1st June to 22nd July ) Dist. Taluk Hobli 0 13 93 16 78 283 13 75 311 1 10 60 0 0 0 Table 2. Area coverage under various crops as on 22.07.2013 in Karnataka Crop Targetted Area Rice Percentage coverage of Target area of Last year 2015 Area covered last year (21.07.2014) 10.57 Area covered this year (20.07.2015 )* 2.33 2.18 22 107 Jowar 1.47 0.89 0.91 61 98 Ragi 7.33 0.35 0.79 5 44 Maize 12.08 7.65 8.13 63 94 Bajra 2.81 0.63 1.41 22 45 Minor Millets 0.27 0.09 0.08 33 113 Total Cereals 34.52 11.94 13.5 35 88 Red gram (Tur) 8.16 3.16 4.04 39 78 Horse gram 0.84 0.1 0.05 12 200 Black gram 0.81 0.7 0.49 86 143 Green gram 3.28 2.75 2.27 84 121 Cowpea 0.74 0.74 0.46 100 161 Avare 0.75 0.08 0.08 11 100 Moth bean 0.06 Neg. 0.02 Total Pulses 14.65 7.53 7.41 51 102 Total Food grains Groundnut 49.17 19.47 20.91 40 93 5.97 1.83 2.45 31 75 Sesamum 0.58 0.43 0.38 74 113 Sunflower 1.69 0.46 0.79 27 58 Castor 0.21 0.05 0.06 24 83 Niger 0.17 0.02 0.02 12 100 Soyabean 2.68 2.66 2.22 99 120 11.35 5.45 5.92 48 92 Cotton 6.47 3.46 4.78 53 72 Sugarcane 5.02 4.44 4.63 88 96 Tobacco 0.99 0.85 0.87 86 98 73 33.67 37.11 46 91 Total Oilseeds Total Area 9 Table 3. Taluka wise rainfall in District Yadgir during 2015 June S.No Taluka Normal Actual July (up to 21.07.2015) % Depa Normal Actual % Depa. From 01/0106/2015 to 21/07/2015 Normal Actual % Depa. 1 Shahapur 126 79 -37 161 73.6 -54 287 152.6 -47 2 Shorapur 103 23 -78 121 29.3 -76 224 52.3 -77 Yadgir 122 67.6 -45 177 106.6 -40 299 174.2 -42 351 169.6 -52 459 209.5 -54 810 379.1 -53 3 Total 10 Table 4. Yadgir district Kharif Area Coverage (taluka wise) for the year 2015-16 { Sown Area in Ha} TALUKA Shahpur sl.no Crops Target Surpur Area Sown Target Yadgir Area Sown Target Total Area Sown Target Area Sown 1 Paddy 20500 0 26500 0 8000 4640 55000 4640 2 Jowar 150 0 200 0 200 97 550 97 3 Maize 275 0 275 14.2 150 0 700 14.2 4 Bajra 8500 650 10750 339.6 5750 586 25000 1575.6 5 Minor Millets 0 0 0 0 0 46 0 46 Total 29425 650 37725 353.8 14100 5369 81250 6372.8 1 Redgram 19400 5025 19500 508.4 18700 15857 57600 21390.4 2 Greengram 8700 3872 1300 53.24 21000 13773 31000 17698.2 3 Cowpea 300 0 700 0 300 117 1300 117 4 Bean 25 0 25 0 100 19 150 19 5 Mataki 25 0 25 0 100 0 150 0 6 Horsegram 50 0 100 0 200 32 350 32 7 Urd 0 0 0 0 2000 243 2000 243 8 Others 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total pulses 28500 8897 21650 561.64 42400 30041 92550 39499.6 Total food 57925 9547 59375 915.44 56500 35410 2E+05 45872.4 1 Groundnut 1500 0 3000 30 1500 338 6000 368 2 Sesame 100 0 100 0 100 78 300 78 3 Sunflower 8800 0 14600 66.6 6600 706 30000 772.6 4 Castor 25 0 25 0 250 25 300 25 5 Niger 100 0 100 0 100 33 300 33 6 Mustard 30 0 20 0 30 0 80 0 7 Safflower 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total oilseeds 10555 0 17845 96.6 8580 1180 36980 1276.6 1 Cotton 29900 275 18900 308.2 6200 7512 55000 8095.2 2 Sugarcane (New) 1200 0 1500 0 300 19 3000 19 3 Sugarcane (Kule) Total commercial crops 342 112 0 40 70 0 412 152 31442 387 20400 348.2 6570 7531 58412 8266.2 Total Crops 99922 9934 97620 1360.2 71650 44121 3E+05 55415.2 % Coverage 9.94 1.39 11 61.58 20.59 Table 5. Rainfall Pattern in Gulbarga district of Karnataka up to 21-07-2015 Rainfall Pattern June - 2015 TALUKA AFZALPUR ALAND CHINCHOLLI CHITTAPUR KALABURAGI JEWARGI SEDAM DIST AVERAGE Normal (mm) Actual (mm) South -West Monsoon Rainfall Pattern 2015 (1st June to 21st July ) 1st July to 21St July 2015 %DEP Normal (mm) Actual (mm) 102.8 104.7 132.5 106.8 118.6 114.1 110.6 26.5 47.9 111 77.8 60.7 40.9 94 -74 -54 -16 -27 -49 -64 -15 69.6 92.1 112.7 93.2 90.4 75.8 111.5 21.6 22.7 94.7 68.9 38.9 43.3 57.3 113.3 64.3 -43 91.4 49.5 12 Normal Actual %DEP (mm) (mm) %DEP -69 -75 -16 -26 -57 -43 -49 -46 172.4 196.8 245.2 200 209 189.9 222.1 48 70.6 205.8 146.7 99.6 84.1 151.2 -72 -64 -16 -27 -52 -56 -32 204.7 113.8 -44 Table 6 . Kharif area coverage in District Gulbarga up to 20.07.2015 Crop Rice Jowar Maize Bajra Minor Millets Total Cereals Red gram (Tur) Horse gram Black gram Green gram Cowpea Avare Moth bean Total Pulses Total Food grains Groundnut Sesamum Sunflower Castor Niger Soyabean Total Oilseeds Cotton Sugarcane Total Area Targetted Area covered this year (20.07.2015)* Area covered last year (20.07.2014) % of last year % of target 1475 2375 7125 20050 655 1068 716 3636 1166 1006 3169 11335 56 106 23 32 44 45 10 18 600 31625 135 6210 132 16808 102 37 23 20 359525 510 25500 18000 500 225 500 404760 436385 132342 57 16480 24217 61 83 67 173307 179517 191910 240 16549 18909 161 63 81 227913 244721 69 24 100 128 38 132 83 76 73 37 11 65 135 12 37 13 43 41 1675 7950 22550 190 550 20325 53240 54475 26072 570172 75 875 1356 16 136 7409 9867 291 22608 212283 194 2534 7315 30 127 23254 33454 27201 30866 336242 39 35 19 53 107 32 29 1 73 63 4 11 6 8 25 36 19 1 87 37 13 Table 7. Taluka wise targeted area and area sown in district Gulbarga as on 20.07.2015 S.No Taluka 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sedam Chincholi chittapur Aland Afzalpur Kalaburgi Jewargi Total Tageted Area 56190 70693 77760 86096 76880 92371 110182 570172 Area sown as on 20.7.2015 52161 63920 55208 13440 11360 9662 6532 212283 % area sown 93 90 71 16 15 10 6 37 %DEP of Rainfall -32 -16 -27 -64 -72 -52 -56 -44 Table 8 Assistance for various equipments/machines under state and NFSM S.No Equipment Particulars Full Rate Subsidy under different schmes State (Rs.) NFSM 1 Diesel Engine 2 Rotovator 4 HP 5 HP 5 ft 6 ft 3 Seed-CumFertilizer Drill Multi Crop Thresher Power operated Sprayers (4 stroke) 24000-26966 33000-41400 97000-111000 99500-113750 55000-62000 10000 10000 35000 35000 15000 128000-150000 12000 16500 48500 49750 2900032000 64000 16000-17600 8000 3000 4 5 14 40000 15