BHAWANIPATNA/UMERKOTE/JEYPORE: Farmers of three districts, where the monsoon has been playing hide-and-seek, are a worried lot. With a drought-like situation looming, the Dandapat Anchal Krushak Sabha, a farmers’ outfit of Kalahandi, organised a rally at the sub-divisional headquarters town of Dharamgarh on Thursday.
In a memorandum to the Chief Minister, they drew attention towards the implication of the failure of the monsoon this year. The members urged that the crop insurance date be extended to help affected farmers overcome crop loss.
The Dandapat area under the Dharamgarh subdivision of Kalahandi district includes Parla, Gumer, Gadiajore, Dhanrpur, Jayantpur, Chanchabaheli Tendapali and Behera gram panchayats. These areas have remained un-irrigated due to the absence of rainfall. Deficit and erratic monsoons have also affected areas under Dharamgarh, Koksara, Golamunda and Bhawanipatna blocks.
District agriculture officer J Surya Rao said there is a substantial delay in agriculture activities like beaning, transplanting and other works. Similarly, insufficient rain has left farmers in Nabarangpur district worried with most of them yet to sow seeds for kharif cultivation so far. There are nearly two lakh farmers in Nabarangpur, most of who depend on rainfall for cultivation as irrigation facility is reportedly available for less than 20 per cent of land in the region.
For this kharif, the district agriculture wing had set a target to cultivate paddy over 1,30,000 hectares (ha) and maize on 85 ha. Usually, sowing gets completed by the first week of June every year. However, this year, agricultural activities are running behind schedule owing to inadequate rainfall.
Farmers of Umerkote, Nandahandi and other blocks said a drought-like situation is imminent if there is no rainfall within seven to 10 days. “We could not sow seeds on time due to insufficient rain. If rainfall fails this week, all of us will suffer huge losses,” said Bhakchand Nayak, a farmer leader from Nabarangpur.
Contacted, chief district agriculture officer (CDAO) G. Venkat Reddy said, “Farmers should have opted for long duration paddy seeds which will be profitable in case of delayed monsoon or less rains.” Similarly, the Koraput district has recorded only 130 mm of rainfall during the first two weeks which is about 70 mm less than last year. The district has targeted to grow paddy on about 99,000 ha during the ensuing Kharif season, of which, 50 per cent of paddy crops are cultivated in non-irrigated and upland areas.
The delayed monsoon has already pushed agricultural activities back by two weeks. “Instead of sporadic rains, continuous rainfall is the need of the hour,” said Sukria Pradhan, leader of Krushak Samaj of Kotpad.
“There is no problem for cultivation due to deficit rains till date in the district and we hope there will be good rains in coming days,” said Jeypore chief district agriculture officer BN Behera.
IMD forecasts above-normal rain for east
BHUBANESWAR: As rainfall activity in the state has picked up, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast above-normal showers in the eastern region of the country in the last week of this month. The regional Met office said another cyclonic circulation is likely to develop over the north Bay of Bengal around August 25.
“It is too early to predict if the cyclonic circulation will intensify into a low-pressure area. However, the state is expected to receive above-normal rains in the last week of the month,” said a scientist at Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre Umasankar Das.
Many places received rainfall in the state in the last two days under the influence of a low-pressure area over the northwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining areas of West Bengal-north Odisha coasts. The system is expected to move west-northwestwards across north Odisha and north Chhattisgarh during the next two to three days.