JAGATSINGHPUR: Farmers in Jagatsinghpur are concerned as a major portion of green and black gram crops failed to grow due to lack of moisture, while the surviving plants have been attacked by the yellow mosaic virus.
During the ongoing Rabi season, agricultural activities were planned in an area of 75,980 hectares. Of this, 2,650 ha were earmarked for food crops, 68,780 ha for pulses, 4,250 ha for oilseeds, and 300 ha for sugarcane cultivation.
After harvesting the paddy crop, farmers usually sow pulse seeds in the paddy fields using the residual moisture present in the soil.
However, this year the soil lacked adequate residual moisture, which led to poor germination and affected crop growth.
Sources said that nearly 90 per cent of green gram and black gram crops have been severely affected due to the failure of seeds to germinate properly. In many fields, the crops did not grow at all after sowing, causing serious concern among farmers.
The crops that managed to survive have now been affected by yellow mosaic, which has started attacking green and black gram crops in several blocks, including Jagatsinghpur, Naugaon, Balikuda, Erasama, Kujang, Tirtol and Raghunathpur.
A senior agriculture officer said that green gram cultivation requires minimal rainfall during the flowering stage. However, there has been no rainfall during this period due to which, the few surviving plants have also failed to grow properly and have become vulnerable to yellow mosaic virus.
Basant Kumar Das, a farmer from Patana village under Jagatsinghpur block, said that every year he cultivates green gram on five acres of land. “But this year the entire crop has been affected as the plants did not grow after sowing. The few plants that survived later turned yellow and dried up due to the attack of yellow mosaic virus. I will not even recover my labour cost or the money spent on seeds,” he said.
He further alleged that despite repeated requests, agriculture department officials have not visited the affected fields. Lack of awareness among farmers about alternative methods of pulse cultivation has also worsened the situation, he added.
Meanwhile, the agriculture department had set a target to procure about 3.50 lakh quintals of moong from the district. However, it now appears doubtful whether the target can be achieved as a large portion of the cultivation area has remained barren.
Chief district agriculture officer Kulamani Barik said the soil was dry during the sowing period, which prevented proper germination of seeds. “In a few places the plants grew after getting some moisture, but due to lack of rainfall during the flowering stage, the crops could not grow properly. Moreover, many farmers did not apply pesticides or disease control measures as they were reluctant to invest more money fearing heavy losses,” he added.