A joint crop loss survey by officials of the Revenue, Agriculture and Horticulture Departments has begun in the district in the wake of monsoon failure.

Major crops such as paddy, hybrid maize, ragi, jowar, toor dal, cowpea, groundnut, and cotton have withered in most parts of the district. The survey has been initiated by the district administration to assess the exact extent of crop loss owing to failure of rains.

K.M. Somasundra, Joint Director of Agriculture, said on Monday that the survey, being taken up at the village level, is expected to be completed in three weeks. Village accountants and assistant agriculture officers are involved at the village level, while agriculture officers, revenue inspectors, and horticulture officers are involved at the hobli level. The Assistant Director of Agriculture and the tahsildar are involved at the taluk level.

Gone to waste

Paddy is grown in over 68,801 hectares in the district, ragi in 11,335 ha, toor dal in 2,931 ha, groundnut in 3,092 ha, and cotton in 396,49 ha.

All the seven taluks — H.D. Kote, Hunsur, K.R. Nagar, Mysuru, Nanjangud, Periyapatna, and T. Narsipur — have not received even close to normal rainfall.

The district has received 387.1 mm of rain this year, as against the normal rainfall of 586.8 mm.

The deficit in the past couple of months has been crucial, Mr. Somasundra said. In August, Mysuru district received just 31.9 mm of rain, as against the normal rainfall of 80.1 mm. In 2015, the August rainfall was 89.2 mm. Till September 26, the district has received 15.2 mm rain, as against the normal rainfall of 84.4 mm for this period.

Source - http://www.thehindu.com