AURANGABAD, JUNE 24: An unusually long dry spell has spelt doom for thousands of small farmers in Marathwada, who, following the pre-monsoon showers, went ahead with a pre-mature sowing of major Kharif crops.If the present dry spell continues over a week, these farmers could be in serious trouble, Agriculture Department officials said.So far, over twelve thousand hectres of land has been put under cultivation of cotton and sugarcane in the eight districts of Marathwada. Of this, cotton has been sowed in about 3,646 hectares while sugarcane 84 hectares.The last notable showers that lashed the region was on 19 June. Since then, the amount of rainfall has been negligible, Divisional Joint Director, Agriculture, officials said while talking to The Indian Express.Though traditionally sowing in the region takes place between 21 June and 31 July, the heavy pre-monsoon showers between 1 June and 11 June tempted many farmers to advance it to the second week of June.Having waited so long for the second spell, farmers are now gradually beginning to re-sow their fields, field offices informed.By the time, the sowing ends on 31 July, the total area under cultivation will go up considerably with the addition of several minor crops like jowar, sunflower, and pulses.The maximum sowing in the region has been reported from Beed district - 2,321 hectares while the minimum is in Hingoli - 249 hectares. In Parbhani, about 812 hectares are under cultivation while Latur has cultivated 1,822 hectares, Osmanabad 1,480 hectares, Jalna 1,533 hectares and Aurangabad 2,032 hectares, officials informed.
