Area under rabi drops 14.7 per cent in state

The area under rabi crop in Karnataka has witnessed a drop of 14.7 per cent to 2.9 million ha by December 13, 2010, as against 3.4 million ha sown during the previous period last year owing to less sowing in cereals.

The data released by Department of Agriculture, Government of Karnataka, showed that the rainfall recorded a departure of 44 per cent to normal during this period.

The state, which aims to have a total crop area of 3.45 million ha during the rabi season, may not be able to reach the target this season.

As per the data, the sowing status was above normal in two districts, normal in 15 districts, below normal in 10 districts and negligible in five districts.

While districts like Bellary and Koppal recorded a completely nomal sowing, dist-ricts like Kollar, Chikkab-allapura, Chitradurga, Raic-hur, Gulbarga, Yadgir, Belg-aum, Bidar, Bagalkot, Bija-pur, Gadag, Dharwad, Chikmagalur, Dakshin Kannada and Uttar Kannada have recorded a sowing in the range of 76-100 per cent during this period.

However, Bangalore urban, Shimoga, and Kodagu are three districts that has witnessed negligible sowing in this period.

Total area sown under cereals by December 13 stood at 1.37 million ha, a drop of 21 per cent over the rabi target this year. While sowing of rice has shown a significant improvement, area under jowar has shown a drastic fall to 116,000 ha against a target of 1.2 million ha set for this rabi season.

However, pulse sowing has exceeded this year’s rabi target. The area under pulses has shown a 9.3 per cent rise to 1.11 million ha this rabi season over the set target.

Similarly, the total area under oilseeds has shown a 50 per cent drop to 262,000 ha this season compared to a target of 527,000 ha this rabi season.

Total area under cash crops has shown a fall of 22 per cent to 151,000 ha against the targeted crop area of 185,000 ha in the rabi season.