A very small portion of this was published by Down to Earth due to space constraints......
It’s either dry famine or green famine for us, say farmers in the Rayalaseema region.
Tirupati: The dramatic scenes on national media of NDRF choppers rescuing people marooned in choppy waters from Anantapuramu, people caught up in flash floods in the YSR Cuddapah district and unseen floods in the foot hills of abode of Lord Venkateshwara in Tirupati in Chittoor district have bewildered people all across, coming as they were from the perennially drought prone Rayalaseema region.
Weather experts at the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory located in Gadanki of Chittoor district of Rayalaseema region say the changes have been visible since 2012 owing to slow change in the IICZ (Inter Tropical Convergent Zone) courtesy climate change at the global scale. They say the changes owing to anthropogenic (man-made) activities cannot be denied any more. Global warming is not taking place uniformly so due to temperature differences disturbances are inevitable they aver.
Being a rain-shadow region rains evade Rayalaseema region during June, July with rains happening occasionally. The region does receive more rains in the north east monsoon during October, November and December when the monsoon is retreating. This is true for both Rayalaseema and Tamil Nadu, says Amit P. Kesarkar, a scientist at the NARL.
When cyclones also occur, they lead to deluge, Mr Amit says adding, “There is now a southward shift in occurrence of south west monsoon emanating from the Arabian Sea leading to more rains for Rayalaseema and TN. Normally the rains were not severe earlier but the southward expansion of monsoonal flow has increased chances of rain for the region in the last decade.”
Asked what is causing this shift he adds, the La Nina phase is making the Western Pacific Ocean warmer which leads to frequent easterly waves over Indian Ocean. The low-pressure areas which develop inside easterly waves is a combination of regional weather as well as probably climate change. Depressions which are happening inside the easterly waves are leading to more rains for South India as a whole.
While Rayalaseema region has received more rains in the last three years, the region was drought hit between 1995 to 2005 leading to huge shift in the cropping pattern from groundnut, paddy and sugarcane to others especially horticulture in the region, says Dr. Amit Kumar Patra, director, NARL.
Dry famine or green famine:
Farmers across the Rayalaseema region, Down To Earth spoke to vouch for these averments. M.B. Ramudu, from Mukundapuram village of Garladinne mandal of Ananthapuramu district says, “Paddy, cotton and groundnut crops have been completely destroyed. After we received rains in June, July farmers sowed groundnut it did not rain properly until September and then rained again now leading to rotting of the dry groundnut plants denying even fodder for our cattle. They have to survive now only eating green grass as we are flush with water everywhere. We either have dry famine or green famine. In this milieu, why will farmers not commit suicide.”
The information is vouched for by V. Chennappa, a chilli farmer in Kanaganapalli village and mandal of Ananthapuramu district who has cultivated chillies leasing five acres of land spending Rs three lakhs and is worried what fate awaits his crop as he is told it would be hit by more diseases due to these rains. “It’s been raining for seven days now and the groundnut crop in the mandal has been destroyed. The banana crop has survived as of now as the rains have not been accompanied by heavy winds.”
The experience of G.V. Ramana Reddy, a farmer from Gundlurivaripalle of Sodam mandal of Chittoor district is no different as the district received untimely rains in September when the nuts in pods had to grow. “It has been raining continuously not allowing the land to dry since September. Dryness in the land is needed for the plant to produce more pods as it tries to save its species. The groundnut produce therefore fell from the expected 20 bags of 40 kgs each to just 4 to 5 bags leaving me short of Rs 8,000 from my pocket having spent Rs 20,000 on the crop per acre.”
In this milieu, seeking remedial measures farmer leaders under the aegis of AIKS (All India Kisan Sabha) in Anantapuramu are currently undertaking a padayatra of 780 kms covering 170 villages over a period of 28 days. Speaking with DTE, R. Chandra Sekhar Reddy, district secretary, AIKS says “Proper remunerative rates should be ensured for banana crop, restoration of subsidy for drip irrigation equipment, input subsidy for crops, CCRC (Crop Cultivators Rights Card) for all tenant farmers among other demands.”
The remedial measures:
Given the situation, asked how the situation can be remedied, G.V. Ramanjaneyulu, director, Centre for Sustainable Agriculture in Hyderabad says, “We have to make changes in cropping pattern from paddy which we are growing more than we need to millets, pulses and oil seeds which we are importing from other countries now. We should think differently as situations have changed from 1960s to 2021. We are not short of food grains now. We have a glut. This will help mitigate changes in climate in our region as paddy and sugarcane being water intensive release greenhouse gases. We should cultivate paddy seeds which don’t germinate immediately after being soaked in water given the frequent storms.”
Responding to complaints on increase of sucking pests by farmers across crops like mangoes, tomato, guava etc, he adds, “Disproportionate usage of nitrogenous fertilizers from the required 4:2:1 of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus respectively would help lessen sucking pests which can be done by removing disproportionate subsidy to only urea. This has changed the composition of soil in some places to 7:2:1 or even worse 25:2:1.”
When asked what can be done to arrest them when farmers experience of pesticides failing to contain them is cited, he says, “With a coating of wax around them they cannot be contained using pesticides as the chemical won’t affect the coat. Soap water or urine of any animal can be used as spray to contain them as they remove the wax coat around them. Once the coat is removed and exposed to sunshine the insect will die. Traps also can be used to rein them.”
Changing crops, selecting seed varieties suitable for the changed climate, proper insurance schemes in case of crop losses and drying facilities for crops given the uncertain rains should be built at the local level would go a long way in mitigating farmers woes. A compensation of Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 can be given to farmers when the government is prepared to spend Rs 28 lakhs to push oil palm cultivation in ecologically sensitive places like north east, he adds.
Unprecedented flooding of towns an inevitable consequence:
Speaking on the flooding in Tirupati, where Mr Patra resides for the last 20 years now, he says layouts have been okayed without factoring the topography of the area. Ponds should be part of the town. The water that accumulates on the hills has to flow downhill and the encroached natural channels which existed have to be revived.
The sentiment is echoed by former city councillor of Tirupati, P. Naveen Kumar Reddy, who is a vocal advocate of sustainable environmental practices says, “The TUDA (Tirupati Urban Development Authority), bus stand, vegetable market are all built on ponds. Thirty percent of the city stands on pond lands. There has been a blind penchant for laying concrete slabs in ponds meant to store water (Govindarajaswamy Pushkarini). Water from natural water falls Malvadigundam and Kapilatheertham which flow during rainy season can fetch 1 TMC of water. This can be stored within the forest by a storage tank. The natural flow route of this water has been concretised resulting in the drying up of 10,000 bore wells abutting the route. This leads to less seepage in the town leading to fall in ground water below 600 to 700 feet at several places. This water now flows into Suvarnamukhi river and some of it flows into the Bay of Bengal.”
A. Raghava Sharma, a veteran journalist in Tirupati town says, “The water that flooded our house and streets adjacent to ours could have been avoided if the water flow from the 1,000 acre Peruru water tank had flown to Tummalagunta water pond whose bunds were dismantled and turned into a playground. The pond would have avoided or lessened the flooding of the Padmavathi Mahila University and in-turn our area.”
Christened a smart city under the NDA government as part of the 100 smart cities mission, and spent crores on beautification of parks the city needs to get its priorities right. The city which did not have an elected local body got its council back in 2020.
One of the biggest ponds built during the regime of king Krishnadevarayalu, after whom the Rayalaseema region gets its name, currently has a small breach which is being attended to by authorities on war footing. Though a breach of the pond is not expected to have any material difference to the city as such the developments there are on the people’s prayers having endured the worst.
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