Last two days in Telangana saw some us-seasonal rains which came in as a major blow to chilli farmers which were left distraught after the harvested produce was drenched in the downpour. Telangana is one of the major chilli-producing states in the country.
Looking at the figures, about 23,410 hectares of land was cultivated this season. Chilli farms in districts such as Konijerla, Yerrupalem, Tirumalayapalem, Nelakondapalli, Raghunadhapalem and Kusumanchi saw the biggest brunt of all.
Konijerla recorded highest rainfall of 78.6 mm during the period whereas Yerrupalem registered the second highest at 60 mm, followed by Mudigonda (56 mm) and Thallada (51.8 mm).
This is usually the time, when chillies are harvested and farmers stock the ripen produce on the fields so as it gets sun-roasted. However, rains rather brought in damage. Water leads to the produce getting rotten in a very short span of time. Some farmers were reported covering the fields with tarpaulin sheets seeing the approaching rains, but in vain.
Not just the Chilli crop, these unseasonal showers have also partially affected several other crops like mangoes which presently are at a flowering stage in many divisions.
On the other hand, a spell of mild rain in the last two days in some parts of the state have proved beneficial for standing Rabi crops in need of wetting at this point of time.
Image Credits – http://www.dupont.co.in
Any information taken from here should be credited to Skymet Weather