High water storage in the Nizamsagar project is supporting widespread paddy cultivation across parts of Telangana, with farmers covering 98 per cent of the irrigation command area and traders offering up to Rs 3,000 per quintal at the field level.
The project in Nizamabad district held 1,400.32 feet of water as of Friday, against its full reservoir level of 1,405 feet. Its current storage stood at 11.701 tmc, compared with a gross capacity of 17.802 tmc, according to data cited in the report. Water availability has also remained substantial in several tanks across the district.
The Nizamsagar ayacut covers farming areas in Banswada, Bodhan, Nizamabad, Kamareddy and Armoor. Paddy has been cultivated on about 7.50 lakh acres in these areas, and some farmers have already begun harvesting. The strong water position has enabled cultivation in the command area even as farmers in other parts of Telangana have faced the effects of deficient rainfall and the El Niño weather pattern.
Traders from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra are visiting the ayacut areas to buy paddy at the earliest. Farmers are being offered Rs 3,000 per quintal at the field level, while the state government procurement price for Grade A paddy is Rs 2,961 per quintal, including a Rs 500 bonus, farmer K. Nagaraju of Jakora village in Varni mandal told Deccan Chronicle.
Agriculture department officials expect around 15 lakh quintals of paddy to arrive from the undivided Nizamabad district. They said the price of Grade A paddy could reach Rs 3,500 per quintal. Lower paddy arrivals are expected from districts that received deficient rainfall, creating a sharp contrast between the Nizamsagar command area and other agricultural regions of the state.
The difference is also visible in the overall cultivation figures. Paddy was planted on 67.30 lakh acres across Telangana during the previous Kharif season. This season, the area under the crop has declined to 55.89 lakh acres. Only 16 of the state’s 33 districts have received normal rainfall, according to the report.
The Nizamsagar project is continuing to support farmers through canal operations. Assistant executive engineer Saketh said around 2,000 cusecs of water was being released into the main canal from the project, helping paddy farmers in the ayacut. The ongoing releases and the approaching harvest will determine the volume of produce reaching local markets in the coming period.
