KENDRAPARA: With the advent of monsoon, farming activities have picked up pace in the coastal district. Continuous rains since the last five days have brought cheer to the farmers who were in despair due to the prolonged dry spell. Harekrushna Rout, a farmer of Rajnagar, said, “We have no time to waste. Farmers are now clearing the fields to sow seeds.”
Sources said a target has been fixed to raise paddy over 1,24,600 hectare of agricultural land in the district. Following the showers, preparations have begun for the kharif crop. Apart from readying their fields, farmers are also procuring paddy seeds of their choice.
Many farmers have hired farm workers for cultivation works. With the rains, tractor owners are also hopeful of earning good money this season. President of the district Krusak Sabha Umesh Chandra Singh said with the arrival of monsoon in June, the cost of irrigation would be reduced significantly. Farm activities like transplantation and intercultural operation will commence soon. Farmers are working overtime to take advantage of the showers, he added.
An officer in the Agriculture department said the rainfall would be beneficial for paddy crop. “The arrival of monsoon at this time will prove to be a boon for crops as the level of groundwater has been constantly falling for the last 10 years. Besides, the dependence on electricity in paddy and jute cultivation will decrease,” he said. The contemporary cropping pattern in the coastal district is dominated by paddy and jute cultivation, which cover the major portion of the gross cropped area.