Water has been released from the Kabini reservoir to help irrigate 5,475 hectares under the Hullahalli and Rampura canal areas.
Water from the Kabini, which was the first to reach the maximum level this monsoon, has been released from July 20 and will continue till November 17, with some variations in the quantum of release based on the reservoir's water storage and rainfall. The decision to release water for the 2013 monsoon season short-term paddy crop was taken up at a preliminary meeting under the chairmanship of district incharge minister V Sreenivasa Prasad, who is also the revenue minister, after taking into consideration the present storage levels in the reservoir and previous years' experiences, says Kabini Nala division executive engineer.
Till July 29, farmers have completed sowing on 241,000 hectares, of the targeted 420,000 hectares in the district, under the present monsoon cropping season, covering 58 per cent of the targeted area.
Of the sown area, 234,239 hectares are in rain-fed areas (78 per cent), while it is only 6 per cent (7,441 hectares) under irrigated area. Now that waters are being relea-sed through the canals, the coverage is expected to rise in the irrigated areas in the coming weeks. Last year, only 50 per cent of the targeted area (215,335 hecta-res) had come under sowing, accounting for only 50 per cent as on date in Mysore district.
According to Joint Director of Agriculture K R Krishnaiah, cereals cover 47,070 hectares, pulses 46,456 hectares, oilseeds 11,929 hectares and cotton 50,374 hectares. Besides, tobacco has been cultivated on 82,258 hectares and sugarcane on 3,593 hectares.
Against the district's average annual rainfall of 801.4 mm and, January to July 29 average of 394.4 mm, the district has recorded 429.3 mm rainfall, amounting to 109 per cent. July's rainfall is 151.9 mm, higher than the average rainfall of 104.2 mm. Except for H D Kote and Periyapatna taluks, which have recorded an above average rainfall, other taluks in the district have experienced below the average.
