Approximately 70 per cent crops sown in Rajasthan's Jodhpur district failed due to poor monsoon, according to a preliminary survey conducted by the agriculture department.
Threat of drought looms large in western Rajasthan with the region reporting below average rain fall dampening the hopes of farmers.
"Approximately 70 per cent of crops sown in the district in non-irrigated areas have failed" Deputy Director (Agriculture) B K Dwivedi said.
He said the actual loss can be asessed after getting detailed report on crop failure by the revenue department.
As far as the Jodhpur district is concerned, a total 13.50 lakh hectares of land is sown in the district during kharif season. Of this, 4.50 lakh hectares is irrigated land while the remaining 9 lakh hectares is non-irrigated.
With a good landing of monsoon this year, the farmers proceeded with sowing of crops such as millet, groundnut, moong, til and cotton on a large scale.
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However, the absence of follow up rains led to disappointment among the farmers as the crops started wilting.
Finally, with no adequate rain in the months of August and September, the agriculture department started a crop survey, which pegged the failure of crop to about 70 per cent.
According to the farmers, while the crops in irrigated areas are on the verge of harvest, those in the non-irrigated areas were "badly dried".
Bhartiya Kissan Sangh's Tulcharam Sivar said the failure of crops will badly affect the production and result in heavy losses to the farmers.
"This is the right time the government takes required steps to provide relief to farmers. Otherwise, the farmers will be suffering huge loss," he said.
Aggravating the agrarian distress is the shooting prices of fodder as the animal husbandry is the alternative source of livelihood for the farmers in rural areas.
"With the crop failure, the cultivation of fodder crops has also suffered a huge set back and the prices of the fodder are all set to shoot up very soon," Nemichand, a fodder seller, said.
Sivar said high fodder costs will affect the Rabi cultivation as most of the farmers will not have enough money to begin sowing.