MANDYA: Facing the drought for the third consecutive year, Mandya farmers haven't taken up paddy production this time -a first in many years.By July-end, paddy was to be planted in 60,067 hectares in the once-bountiful district, considered a rice bowl of Karnataka. As of August 9, agriculture department data shows zero paddy activity in the district.In fact, the time has passed for farmers to plant the regular, long-term variety of the crop. "This is for the first time in decades that there is absolutely no paddy in the district, according to farmers and officers who have served here. "Officials may say they are yet to take stock of borewell-fed land, but they will find nothing," Induvalu Chandrashekhar, a farmer leader, said.Mandya is spread over 4.98 lakh hectares, of which 2.48 lakh hectares are the sown area. Of the 1.17 lakh hectares of irrigated area, 88,000 hectares get water from KRS and 16,000 from Hemavathi reservoir.

Source: Times of India August 10, 2017 02:22 UTC