KENDRAPARA: Agriculture activities have picked up pace in Kendrapara following the arrival of the monsoon. Continuous rain for the last four days has paved the way for farmers to start preparing for the Kharif crop. Sanatana Behera, a farmer of Pattamundai, said the ponds and ditches are brimming with water due to the continuous rain. Farmers are now busy with kharif operations and preparing fields for sowing seeds.
“Rain is good for paddy crop which requires a huge amount of water. We have no time to waste. We are now clearing our fields to sow the seeds,” said Behera. While the small and marginal farmers are dependent on bullocks to cultivate paddy, those with means have started hiring tractors for the purpose. Besides, many farmers have also hired workers for the cultivation works.
President of the district Krusaka Sabha Umesh Chandra Singh said farmers who were worried over the delay in paddy transplantation due to water shortage, are happy to see the rains. With the arrival of monsoon in the last week of June, the cost of irrigation would be reduced.
However, steady rainfall is needed for better paddy production. “Monsoon clouds usually reach the coastal district by the first week of June. But the monsoon arrived only four days back. This rain is not enough. We have to wait and see if the rainfall is consistent,” Singh added.
Chief district agriculture officer Himanshu Mohan Mishra said the arrival of monsoon at this time has certainly proved to be a boon as the level of groundwater has been constantly falling for the last 10 years in Kendrapara.
The contemporary cropping pattern in the coastal district is dominated by paddy and jute cultivation. Due to the rains, the increasing consumption of electricity for paddy and jute cultivation will also decrease.
Farmers of the coastal district have planned to raise paddy over 1,24,600 hectare (ha) of land this year.