Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Aug 27, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Aug 27, 2002 |
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Agri-Biz & Commodities
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Floriculture Kurnool farmers shift to pulses, sunflower Ch. Prashanth Reddy
Two women at a sunflower farm in Rekalakunta village at Dhone mandal of Kurnool district.
KURNOOL, Aug. 26 FARMERS are increasingly switching over from cultivation of cotton to sunflower, pulses and vegetables in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh. Consequently, the area under cotton during the current year has declined to 35,000 hectares from an average of 1.1 to 1.25 lakh ha sown in the previous years. Falling prices, low yields and high risks involved in the cultivation of the crop are making farmers to shift from cotton to other crops, according to Mr M. Ramamurthy, Joint Director of Agriculture. Apart from cotton, Mr Ramamurthy told Business Line, the area under groundnut was also declining. As against a normal sowing area of 1.97 lakh ha, groundnut was cultivated in an extent of only 1.34 lakh ha in the district in the current year. Prolonged dry spell was stated to be one of the reasons for the reduction in crop area. On the other hand, farmers have grown sunflower in an area of 1 lakh ha this year as against 60,000 ha last year. The area under Bengal gram had also increased to 1 lakh ha from 86,000 ha last year, while an additional 10,000 ha had been brought under red gram. So far, red gram has been sown in an extent of 28,000 ha and the area is likely to increase in the next few weeks. The quantum jump in the area under sunflower is stated to be on account of the rise in the price of sunflower seed from Rs 1,200 per quintal last year to Rs 1,600 per quintal at present. Besides, the crop is more drought-resistant and can be cultivated throughout the year. While tomatoes, chillies and onions occupy a major portion of the area under vegetable crops in the district, floriculture has also caught the attention of farmers. The area occupied by floriculture, particularly jasmine, chrysanthemum and marigold, has increased to over 5,000 ha this year. However, sowing operations in the district have been affected on account of the prevailing drought conditions. Out of a normal area of 6.17 lakh ha, only 3.3 lakh ha have been sown so far. Following the recent rainfall, farmers currently have resorted to brisk sowings.
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