The southwest monsoon, which fuels agricultural activities in the State and ended with a deficit of 28% this year, has left farmers anxious.
Data submitted to the Central team, which is in Karnataka, to assess the drought situation show that the number of calls to the helpdesk in the kharif season increased to 11.68 lakh in 2023 from 9.14 lakh in 2022, an increase of 27.7%.
Varuna Mitra, the 24/7 interactive helpdesk set up to provide information on rainfall forecast and other weather parameters, received a record 3.08 lakh calls in June when the entry of southwest monsoon was delayed. The app received 2.68 lakh calls in June 2022.
July also saw a rise in the number of calls from 2.28 lakh in 2022 to 2.52 lakh in 2023. In August, the number surged massively. While 1.95 lakh calls were received in August 2022, it increased to 3.14 lakh calls this year. Incidentally, August this year was the driest in 123 years, with a rainfall deficit of 74%. In September, the calls increased from 2.22 lakh in 2022 to 2.94 lakh in 2023.
The document submitted to the Central team said, “The monthly call volumes in the extreme deficit months rose to an all-time high reflecting the anxiety and distress of the farmers due to adverse conditions.”