Tummala urges crop planning amid El Niño concerns

HyderabadLatestTelangana
By HNH Web Desk
El Niño

Hyderabad: Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao on Tuesday urged farmers to plan cultivation keeping El Niño conditions in mind. He warned that below-normal rainfall could reduce water availability in the Krishna and Godavari river basins.

Addressing the ‘Rythu Nestham’ programme, the Minister said Telangana, Maharashtra and Karnataka had received deficient rainfall this season. He said careful crop planning had become essential under the prevailing conditions.

Further, Tummala directed officials from the Agriculture, Irrigation, Groundwater and India Meteorological Department (IMD) to coordinate closely. He asked them to provide timely advisories to farmers.

El Niño prompts call for drought-resilient crops

The Minister recommended low-water crops such as jowar, bajra, foxtail millet, green gram, black gram and red gram. He also advised farmers to choose short-duration, high-yielding crop varieties.

Meanwhile, IMD Hyderabad Director Stella said Telangana had recorded a rainfall deficit of 30-35 per cent due to El Niño. She cautioned that below-normal rainfall could continue over the next three months.

Irrigation officials said deficient rainfall in upstream states was likely to reduce inflows into the Krishna and Godavari rivers. Groundwater officials also warned that water tables could decline further. They advised farmers to avoid water-intensive crops such as paddy and sugarcane.

Experts from the Indian Institute of Millets Research, PJTSAU, IIOR and CRIDA offered scientific guidance on drought-resilient farming, efficient water management and alternative cropping strategies.

Agriculture Secretary K. Surendramohan, Agriculture Director B. Gopi, Cooperation Special Director Rahul Raj, PJTSAU Vice-Chancellor Prof. Altaas Janayya, Irrigation Engineer-in-Chief Madhusudan Rao, Groundwater Director Lakshman and other officials attended the programme.

 

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