Paddy sowing yet to take off as El Niño clouds Telangana’s farm outlook | Hyderabad News

Hyderabad: Even as chief minister A Revanth Reddy seeks central assistance and a series of relief measures to tackle the impact of El Niño and drought conditions, agricultural activity remains sluggish across Telangana. Paddy sowing has covered only 38 acres against a normal seasonal area of 54.33 lakh acres in the Yasangi season so far.Current sowing figures indicate that farmers are yet to make substantial progress across crops. Overall, farmers have covered only 1.85 lakh acres against a normal Yasangi area of 73.71 lakh acres, amounting to 2.5% of the seasonal target. All 32 districts have reported less than 25% of their normal sowing area.The situation brings back memories of the 2014-15 agricultural season, when Telangana experienced a severe rainfall shortfall during an El Niño year. Rainfall declined from 905 mm to 682 mm, a drop of 25%. Paddy cultivation area fell from 49.3 lakh acres to 34.97 lakh acres, a decline of 29%, while rice production dropped from 98.72 lakh tonnes to 68.18 lakh tonnes, a reduction of 31%. The net irrigated area also declined from 56.34 lakh acres to 42.65 lakh acres.The latest sowing figures, coupled with depleted water resources and falling groundwater levels, underline the challenge facing the agriculture sector as the state enters another critical cropping season.The state received 645.5 mm of rainfall between June 1 and Nov 11 against a normal of 839.2 mm, registering a deficit of 23%. The southwest monsoon ended with a 17% deficit, while the northeast monsoon has so far recorded a 70% shortfall. Meanwhile, Oct was particularly poor, with rainfall at just 12.7 mm against a normal of 90.1 mm, a deficit of 86%.Water availability presents another concern. Cumulative storage in major reservoirs stood at 409.78 tmc ft on Nov 11, against 905.83 TMC during the corresponding period last year. Groundwater levels have also declined considerably, with the state’s average depth to groundwater increasing from 4.42 metres below ground level in Oct 2025 to 8.28 metres in Oct 2026. Vikarabad recorded a depth of 13.54 metres, followed by Sangareddy at 12.93 metres and Medchal at 12.67 metres.Maize sowing stood at 27,994 acres against a normal of 8.95 lakh acres, while jowar covered 12,746 acres against 2.55 lakh acres. Groundnut has made relatively better progress, with 66,835 acres (28.2% of the normal area) covered. Bengal gram accounted for 44,246 acres and black gram for 11,867 acres.The state govt has sought a special assistance package of ₹30,000 crore from the Centre to address El Niño-related drought concerns. It has also sought support for crop losses, input subsidies, drinking water, fodder, livestock protection and groundwater recharge. Telangana has declared 365 mandals across 31 districts drought-affected, including 111 severely affected and 254 moderately affected mandals.