The decrease in the rate of rainfall has caused a huge loss to farmers of Hassan district. The Department of Agriculture has found that of the total 2.06 lakh hectares of land cultivated this kharif season, agriculture crops in 1.68 lakh hectares have been affected due to the dry spell. The agriculture area where more than 33 per cent of the crop has been affected is 1.63 lakh hectares.

Production of cereals, pulses, oilseeds and commercial crops will be affected badly this season. During this season, paddy cultivation was targeted in 50,000 ha. However, the total cultivated area was only 25,572 ha and of that crop in 17,828 has been affected due to dip in rainfall. The rainfall has been less than normal in all parts of the district. Following this, except Sakaleshpur, all taluks have been declared drought-hit. The district recorded 25 per cent less than normal rainfall during the monsoon. The normal rainfall expected this season (From June 1 to Oct 25) in the district was 802 mm, however, the actual received was only 602 mm.

Input subsidy

Considering the loss of crops, the district administration has submitted a proposal for input subsidy of Rs. 101.57 crore to the State Government. The input subsidy has been estimated for small and marginal farmers. As per the proposal, the input subsidy for the rain-fed area has been calculated at Rs.6,800 per ha and in the case of irrigated land it is Rs.13,500 per ha. Besides that, the department has also sought input subsidy of Rs.15.42 crore for big farmers, other than small and marginal.

Apart from a dip in rainfall, the farmers those in irrigated area were hit due to the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. The farmers cultivated paddy expecting water from Hemavati reservoir. As they could not get sufficient water from the reservoir, the yield was affected.

Source - http://www.thehindu.com