Red Gram cultivation badly hit in 'Tur Bowl'

Gulbarga, Dec 3 (UNI) Standing red gram crop cultivated in nearly two lakh hectars in the district is facing threat of destruction due to extreme weather conditions.

While scanty rainfall affected growth of sapplings, cloudy conditions accompained by thick fog are now leading to an invasion by the pests.

Earlier this season, first a drought and them heavy floods in rivers Bhima and Krishna badly affected agriculture in the district.

Gulbarga district, in the backward Hyderabad-Karnataka region, had earned itself the name 'Tur Bowl' for its huge production of pulses. Due to adverse weather condition 50 per cent of red gram crop was damaged this year, pushing the farmers into heavy losses, leaders of CPI(M) affiliated Pranthiya Rytu Sangam told UNI.

Falling prices for red gram had put the farmers in a state of dissolution. While farmer who spent Rs 36,000 on each hectare to grow red gram had to get Rs 2800 per quintal to earn a profit. But with the harvest still some time away the prices in the market were already low at just Rs 1800.

Red gram took longer to harvest and incurs higher production cost compared to green and black varieties. However, The support price set by the government was at Rs 1,410 to all the three pulses which was pushing the red gram growers into a debt trap, the Sangam leaders said.

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