Already suffering from power shortage, paddy farmers in Telangana are a worried lot due to dismally low rainfall during October –December period followed by even worse rainfall in January.
The state received only 56.8 mm of rainfall during the three month period against the normal of 119.4 mm of rain during the period. The bleak rainfall left the state staring at a 52% rain deficiency.
January was no good as Hyderabad received only 0.4 mm of rain against the monthly average of 3.2 mm of rain. However, Ramagundam received 63 mm of rainfall on one occasion in the month of January.
But isolated rain in pockets is not sufficient for water-starved paddy crops and in the wake of shortage of adequate power supply and insufficient rainfall, farmers fear a bad yield for rice this season, eventually leading to price hike in rice prices.
Performance in last years
The performance of rainfall in Telangana in last few years has been better than this year. While the October – December period in 2013 received excess rainfall of 110% of the normal with 251.1 mm of rain, it received 145.1 mm of rain in 2012 and observed an excess of 22% of rainfall.
