KARIMNAGAR: Heavy and continuous rainfall over the past two days has brought relief to farmers in Karimnagar district, particularly paddy growers who had been waiting for rains after raising nurseries. They cautioned that rainfall could reduce after the current spell and advised farmers to diversify into less water-intensive crops. So far, paddy has been sown in about 1.49 lakh acres, leaving nearly 1.30 lakh acres yet to be covered. Despite the official advisory, many traditional paddy farmers had prepared nurseries in anticipation of rain. Farmer M. Rajamallaiah said the rainfall had brought significant relief to paddy growers, enabling transplantation and providing sufficient moisture for the crop over the next month.