Hyderabad: The skies have started to open up with the early arrival of the southwest monsoon, bringing cheers to the faces of farmers across the state. But the preparation work for Vanakalam is set to begin on an uncertain note due to various reasons. Farmers are complaining of shortage of seeds, especially the much-demanded varieties of cotton seeds. Delay in disbursement of crop investment assistance has become another major concern. Crop insurance coverage has been promised from Kharif this year, but the state is yet to finalise the modalities for implementing it from Vanakalam crops. Monsoon rains in Hyderabad, more rains expected The state had launched the ambitious Vanakalam programme with a target to cover 1.51 crore acres this year, which is about eight per cent more than the 1.4 crore acres covered last year. The monsoon has already entered the southern districts of the state, including Nalgonda, Mahbubnagar, Nagarkurnool and parts of Jogulamba-Gadwal district, and rains have begun in many places. The Vanakalam campaign which usually starts in the last week of June or the first week of July is expected to start at least a week earlier this year.

Farmers preparing for the season are expected to go for cotton cultivation in a big way as the crop is expected to benefit from the early monsoon. The government has set a target of cultivating cotton in an area of ​​over 55 lakh acres this year. Cotton growers are facing a huge shortage of cotton seed varieties. They are not showing much interest in the brands available in the supply centres in the market. The area under paddy this season, which is the most preferred crop in the command area of ​​almost all major and medium irrigation projects, is expected to be over 66 lakh acres this year as against 65.9 lakh acres last year. The maize crop is targeted to be sown in over 6,00,000 acres as against 5.32 lakh acres during the same season last year.

Similarly, the area under jowar, which was grown in 5.32 lakh acres last year, is also expected to increase massively. This time the area under chilli crop is expected to increase from 3.64 lakh acres to 3.7 lakh acres. As far as crop investment assistance is concerned, the government had promised to increase it from Rs 10,000 per acre to Rs 15000 per acre. The government is planning to limit Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to small and marginal farmers. Farmers have been getting crop investment assistance of Rs 10,000 per acre under Ritu Bandhu for the last eleven phases. The implementation of the last phase of Ritu Bandhu was inordinately delayed. Though the government had assured to distribute Ritu Bharosa assistance by next month, the eligibility for the benefit has not been finalised yet.