Kharif hectarage to be raised

Buoyed by the increase in harvests and profitable market prices, the Guntur district administration is encouraging farmers to go for an increase in hectarage during the 2008-09 kharif (first crop) season.

A Rajaiah, joint director, agriculture, said they were targeting kharif crops in 6,10,015 hectare as against the normal crop area of 5,77,891 hectare.

Paddy would be raised in 2,90,000 hectare, as against the normal crop area of 2,51,114 hectare. Cotton hectarage would go up to 1,60,000 hectare (normal hectarage 1,49,023).

Sugarcane crop is the real beneficiary as the target fixed for it is a massive 90,000 hectare. Farmers normally cultivate sugarcane in just 1,731 hectarage.

 

Chilli farmers, despite some setbacks in marketing, seem to have decided to increase the hectarage from 55,646 hectare to 64,000 hectare.

However, he said, farmers were told to go slow on pulses in view of decrease in hectarage last year. The administration is pragmatic in fixing a target of 30,000 hectare for redgram as against the normal 32,293 hectare (21,318 hectare last year); 4,000 hectare for green gram as against the normal 13,038 hectare (2,604 hectare last year) and 1,200 hectare for black gram as against the normal 2,899 hectare (1,046 hectare last year).

Turmeric hectarage would go up by 218 hectare from the normal 1,033 hectare; tobacco by 67 hectare from 1,033 hectare and that of fruit crops by 1,849 hectare from the normal 44,025 hectare.

The hectarage for bajra and jowar has been tentatively fixed at 200 hectare each (no crops last year), maize at 2,000 hectare (829 hectare last year), groundnut at 200 hectare, sesamum 2,500 hectare (2,303 hectare last year), soyabean 200 hectare (80 hectare last year), and castor at 2,000 hectare (2,008 hectare last year).