Delayed rains, falling groundwater levels and the looming impact of El Niño have left thousands of farmers across Telangana anxiously watching the skies. While the State has rolled out a contingency plan urging a shift to less water-intensive crops, many cultivators have stayed with their traditional choices, hoping the monsoon will revive. As reservoirs run low and crop stress mounts, they remain caught between official advisories and age-old cropping patterns, report K. Shiva Shanker and P. Laxma Reddy