GUWAHATI, Sept 2 � Of the State�s total cropland area of 27.75 lakh hectares, 70,534.06 hectares were affected by floods this year, said sources in the Department of Agriculture.
Meanwhile, the Assam Agricultural University (AAU) has developed two varieties of paddy, which can withstand complete submergence for more than a week. These paddy varieties have been named as Jalashree and Jalkuwari.
Sources in the Agriculture Department said that a large chunk of the cropland areas of Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Jorhat, Golaghat and Sonitpur was
affected by floods this year. The other districts where the cropland areas were affected by the floods this year include Sivasagar, Darrang, Nagaon, Karbi Anglong, Barpeta, Dhubri and Chirang.
Farmers owning the flood-prone croplands have by this time learnt to get on with the cultivation of the short-duration paddy varieties such as the Boro, early Ahu, IR-64 etc. The IR-64 can be grown in 125 to 130 days, Agriculture Department sources said.
Sources in the AAU told this correspondent that in the flash flood situation, where floodwater recedes within a week or two, most of the available varieties cannot withstand complete submergence for more than a week. This has led the AAU to develop the Jalashree and Jalkuwari varieties as tolerant to complete submergence for such a period.
These two varieties mature in about 150 days and their yield is found to be 3.5 tonnes to 4 tonnes per hectare.
Such varieties are expected to help the farmers to continue their cultivation even in the flood season in the flood-prone areas, said the Agriculture Department sources.
AAU sources said that the University has been adopting different strategies to combat flood. One of the strategies is to escape flood by growing a very early maturing variety of paddy with a duration of less than ten days early in the Ahu season,� that is, early February, with irrigation facilities.
The same type of paddy varieties are recommended for growing late in the Sali season, that is, � the post-flood situation in the last part of August. These varieties are named as Luit, Kopili, Disang etc, said the AAU sources.
The AAU strategies also include the one for staggered planting, which is an additional strategy to tackle the flood situation. For this planting one variety� Gitesh � has been developed for planting in the Sali season. Its maturing period is over 150 days. The advantage of this variety is that its transplantation can be done even with the 60-day-old seedlings, AAU sources said.
The AAU has also developed paddy varieties that can withstand moisture-stress condition. These varieties are named � Inglongkiri, Rongkhang and Dehangi. The maturing period of these varieties is between 110 days and 120 days. Their yield is found to be 3 tonnes per hectare. These varieties are recommended for the hill zone.
The State�s 0.94 lakh hectares of cropland have been found to be drought prone or moisture-stressed, said the Agriculture Department sources.
It needs mention here that the State has six agro-climatic zones. These are � Lower Brahmaputra Valley Zone, Central Brahmaputra Valley Zone, Upper Brahmaputra Valley Zone, North Bank Plains Zone, Barak Valley Zone and the Hill Zone.
Agriculture Department sources said that the seeds of the Jalashree and Jalkuwari varieties of paddy, along with the moisture-stress varieties of paddy� Inglongkiri, Rongkhang and Dehangi, have been recommended by the State Seed Sub-committee to the Central Seed Committee of the Government of India for release.
In the meantime, the number of the livestock lost in the State due to floods this year has been anticipated to be 854 till date. The State also recorded loss of 1,038 poultry so far due to the floods this year. The money worth of these losses has been worked out as Rs 60, 45,000, said sources in the Veterinary Directorate here.
