KENDRAPARA: Deficient rain in May and June has delayed the sowing of paddy seeds in coastal district of Kendrapara. Farmers are worried as inadequate rain has resulted in parched farms and fear is mounting that their saplings may dry, if it doesn’t rain soon.
Earlier, the Meteorological Department had predicated that the monsoon will arrive in the first week of June. But the delay in arrival of monsoon is now troubling farmers. In absence of adequate rain in June, which is considered as crucial month for paddy cultivation, farmers have been forced to exploit underground water. Non- supply of water by the authorities in the canals also added woes of the farmers.
Farmers, who had started off with the first pace of work by ploughing the field, stopped the farming work half a way through. Similarly, farmers who were all set to start ploughing could not carry with the work owing to dryness of the land caused due to lack of rain.
“Due to lack of rain, the paddy saplings are drying while cracks have developed in the agriculture land. Monsoon usually reach the coastal district by the first week of June, but there is a little sign of cloud till date,” said Maheswar Rout, a farmer of Bharatapur.
Each year, farmers of the district raise paddy over 1,60,025 hectares (ha) and 65 per cent of them need rain to cultivate their land. The persistent hot and dry weather could hit several crops including paddy, sugarcane, sunflower, vegetable and other crops, said Gayadhar Dhal, secretary of the district unit of Krushak Sabha.
The sweltering heat could be fatal for the vegetable crops, especially fresh plantation that requires extra care, shade and watering, said Bijaya Parida, a farmers’ leader.When contacted, Deputy Director of Agricultural Mitrodoya Das advised the farmers not to be panic as rains will mitigate their miseries by the end of this month. Paddy saplings will be affected only if monsoon gets delayed by more than a month, he added.