BHUBANESWAR: With monsoon still active and overall crop condition being normal, the State is all set for another bumper paddy crop this kharif season. Reports received by the Directorate of Agriculture and Food Production from districts said that early, medium and late duration paddy crops are in excellent condition barring a few pockets reporting pest attack of moderate to low intensity.
Autumn paddy (early variety) is in maturity stage, harvesting of which will start within a week. Medium and late duration paddy are in panicle and tillering stage respectively. Further rainfall as forecast by the IMD will hugely assist the crop, said a senior officer of the directorate.
There was a 13 per cent deficit rainfall in September and the IMD prediction of rain across the State in the next couple of days due to low pressure will prove beneficial to the farmers, the sources added. Anticipating a bumper crop, the State government has set a target to procure 71 lakh tonne of paddy during this kharif marketing season beginning October 1.
According to the report of the directorate, around 12,000 hectare of paddy crop area is affected by pest attack of moderate intensity, while over 27,000 hectare are affected by low intensity of bacterial leaf blight (BLB), blast, brown plant hopper (BPH) and gundi bug. Most of the affected areas have been treated with pesticides.
The deficient rainfall in June and flood in 13 districts in September notwithstanding, area covered under paddy cultivation has exceeded the area programmed for this kharif. The Agriculture department has planned to cover 35 lakh hectare under paddy crop this kharif. The actual area covered is 35.16 lakh hectare.
Non-paddy crops like pulses and oilseeds were affected in some districts due to excess rainfall in second week of September. The crop condition improved due to less rains in the last two weeks of last month.