Reports received here from different districts said that inadequate rainfall had seriously affected agricultural operations in Kalahandi, Bolangir, Nuapada, Sonepur, Jharsuguda and Bargarh districts.

In Kalahandi, early arrival of the monsoon had prompted farmers to go for sowing but a dry spell from the third week of June for nearly four weeks had affected both paddy and non- paddy crops in non-irrigated areas.

The main problem pertains to the erratic rain-it rains heavily at one spot while no precipitation occurs at a place a two kilometres from there and the rainfall figures become deceptive, said an official of the agriculture department.

As a result, paddy nurseries have faced high mortality due to moisture stress, he said. The spectre of drought also loomed large over the neighbouring Bolangir district and Padampur subdivision of Bargarh district where the monsoon had played truant, a report from Bolangir said. According to Bolangir collector C T M Suguna the groundwater table in the district had gone up compared to its level last summer, but if the rains stay away it would plummet again within two to three months.

Farmers in Bolangir, one of the country's poorest districts, had not seen much agricultural activity with cultivation taken up in 1.19 lakh hectares out of 1.88 lakh hectares under paddy.

Those growing non-paddy crops had managed to start operations in only 7,461 hectares out of a total area of 1.62 lakh hectares, official reports said."The district will definitely face a drought situation this year if we don't receive good rains in the next few days," the concerned collector Suguna said.She described the crop condition as the worst in the Titilagarh sub-division--known to be one of the hottest places of the state during summer--and the Sadar sub- division.

The administration had taken up the operation of small irrigation projects in interior areas to stop migration of people who shift to irrigated pockets of neighbouring districts. Besides, steps had been taken to make all lift irrigation points functional to save the standing crop, Suguna said. Though a sizeable area of Bargarh district is irrigated by the Hirakud project, its Padampur subdivision, without much irrigation facility, has come to be known as a rain shadow area.

Distraught villagers, whose problem of drinking waterscarcity is yet to be solved despite the arrival of the monsoon, have began pujas and resorted to other religious rituals seeking divine intervention to save their crops, the reports said.

Rivers and rivulets in the region have been lying dry while the minor irrigation projects are yet to become fully charged, the reports said.In Kalahandi, the months of June and July have witnessed only 11 and 12 rainy days respectively.

Having covered about 70 per cent of the cultivable area in the district under paddy, farmers in Bhawanipatna, Kesinga, Narla and Golamunda blocks had been transplanting 50 to 60 day old seedlings knowing well that it would not yield much. The condition of non-paddy crops in the district was also equally precarious, according to latest official reports available with the district agriculture office at Bhawanipatna.

Official sources said that against the target of covering 19,000 hectares under cereals, 14,611 hectares had been done while against 1,04,350 hectares targeted to be brought under pulses this kharif, only 55,129 hectares had been covered. In case of oil seeds, less than one-fifth of the targeted area of 33,450 hectares had been covered.

Farmers, who had taken up cotton cultivation in about 14,000 hectares exceeding the target of 13,000 hectares, were facing problems due to the dry spell.According to a preliminary appraisal of crop condition in 195 gram panchayats in Kalahandi district, crops in 67 gram panchayats- mostly under the Indravati project command area and other irrigation pockets - had survived. But the situation was critical in 108 gram panchayats, it was revealed.