No good chances for kharif crops

Expressbuzz, July 23, 2009

BHUBANESWAR: A Fortnight ago, farmers waited with bated breath for the arrival of monsoon amidst fear of an impending drought. Rains came and wreaked havoc. Now, the State faces the crisis of too much water. Prospects of kharif crops appear gloomy in the face of a moody weather.

While the late arrival of monsoon delayed agricultural operation by more than two weeks, the torrential rains triggered by low pressure have further delayed the sowing operation.

The deluge has damaged kharif crops over one lakh hectare. Seed sowing of pulses, oil seeds, spices and vegetables has been completed in 24.30 lakh hectares by July 20 as against 29.97 lakh hectares last year.

Sowing operation could not be taken up in over 5.60 lakh hectares. Excessive rains in the last two weeks triggered flash floods inundating a vast stretch in coastal, western and southern parts of the State and causing extensive damage to standing crops.

The extreme weather condition is not favourable for germination of seeds, Director of Agriculture and Food Production Arabinda Padhee told this paper.

However, transplanting and deweeding operation is on full swing in many parts of the State, he added.

If the Met department prediction of another low pressure over the Bay of Bengal within a couple of days comes true, it will further damage the crop prospects, he said.

The coastal districts of Bhadrak, Balasore, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara and western districts of Balangir and Kalahandi are the worst-hit in terms of kharif operation.

Padhee said the Government has already supplied 4.27 lakh quintals of certified paddy seeds to the farmers while there is a stock of 33,000 quintals for contingency measures.

The chemical fertiliser stock in the State is comfortable except muriate of potash (MoP).

The Agriculture department is keeping a close watch on the distribution of chemical fertilisers to farmers, he said.

Attributing the shortage of MoP to short supply by the Centre, Padhee said State Agriculture Minister Damodar Rout took up the issue with Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Srikanta Jena.

Jena assured him of ensuring that the State demand for MoP is met in time.