ROURKELA: After successful completion of the kharif crop season in rain-fed Sundargarh district, the ongoing rabi crop season too is progressing at a smooth pace.
As per reports, of the total agricultural land of over 3.02 lakh hectare in Sundargarh district, around 1.10 lakh ha land has been prepared for cultivation of rabi crops.
These include 86,649 ha of irrigated land and 25,811 ha of non-irrigated land with target to undertake cultivation of non-paddy crops on over 1.08 lakh ha and paddy crops over 1,810 ha.
Sources in the Agriculture department said in the current rabi crop season till January 3, the cultivation coverage achieved excluding vegetable crops was 84,510 ha, which comes to around 38 per cent.
They said target has been fixed for achieving vegetable cultivation on over 25,950 ha, but the actual coverage attained so far is yet to be shared by the district authorities of the Directorate of Horticulture.
For pulses, against the total cultivation target on over 51,460 ha, around 19,433 ha has been cultivated so far.
Chief district agriculture officer (CDAO) LB Mallick said owing to adequate residual soil moisture and favourable weather conditions, standing crops of different varieties of pulses and oilseeds are in good condition and no pest attack has been reported yet.
“Pulses like horse gram, black gram, green gram, field pea, lentils and cow pea are in different stages, from flowering and fruiting to germination and sowing,” he informed.
Mallick said a total of 27,790 ha have been programmed for oilseeds farming including 17,000 ha for mustard crop. “Till January 3, a total of 11,538 ha has been covered. Standing oilseeds crops including mustard, groundnut, sesame and others are in different stages and conditions,” he said.
The CDAO further expressed confidence that cultivation coverage would pick up pace in the next 15 days, adding the weather condition has been good so far.
Sources said cultivation of cereals including paddy, wheat, maize and millets were taken up over a total of 4,610 ha and achievement is at 929 ha. Spices including garlic, chilly and coriander have been programmed for over 6,600 ha land of which achievement is at 456 ha. “Cultivation of vegetable crops in the rabi crop season has made significant progress but there is no specific area coverage data available as yet,” they added.
During the rabi crop season of 2024-25, the district had successfully achieved the cultivation target of around 1.08 lakh ha. This year, the area under cultivation has been enhanced by over 2,000 ha.