Farmers elated as rain lashes HK region

Gulbarga, Jul 25 (UNI) Heavy rains, lashing the Hyderabad-Karnataka region since the last two days, have brought cheers to farmers.

Quoting the Meteorological department forecast, agriculture officials said the HK region was likely to receive good rainfall during the next 15 days and it would ensure the completion of sowing in the region.

Sowing of red gram had been completed in more than 72,000 hectares as against the targeted 3.22 lakh hectares. ''We hope red gram will be cultivated in more than four lakh hectares this year,'' the officials added.

Farming activities in Gulbarga district, known as 'Tur Bowl,' had almost come to a standstill for a month due to failure of monsoon.

In Bidar district, despite a dry spell, sowing had been completed in 2.29 lakh hectares as against the target of 3.44 lakh hectares. Due to heavy rains in the last two days, sowing activities have picked up momentum in the district.

Agriculture department sources said so far sowing had been taken up only in 1.54 lakh hectares as against the targeted 8.33 lakh hectares. It was hoped that the sowing would be completed for the current Khariff season within a month if the rains continued, the sources added.

A group of farmers at Jewargi told UNI that they restrained from sowing black gram and green gram due to scant rainfall.

Meanwhile, Raichur district continued to suffer from monsoon failure and several villages were reeling under acute drinking water shortage.

UNI DP MSP AM NS1848