Drought takes its toll on the yield of Bengaluru’s favourite bean

Farmers are doubting if even 5% of avarekai they have cultivated can be harvested this year; trouble began for them from the sowing season itself as germination did not take place properly The drought situation in Karnataka has taken its toll on the seasonal favourite avarekai too, leaving farmers doubting if even 5% yield can be harvested this year. Avarekai, usually hits the market around the winter season and the demand peaks during the festival of Sankranti in January. As the southwest monsoon was deficient, the rain-dependent crop has withered away in the growing regions around Bengaluru.

Trouble began for farmers from the sowing season itself as germination did not take place properly. Plants that managed to get past that stage struggled with leafing and bean formation. “Most farmers could not sow the seeds as there was no rain. Some took up sowing on small patches in their fields and even those plants wilted in the heat,” explained Anjaneya Reddy, a farmer representative from Kolar district.