GUWAHATI, Nov 21 - Even as the phenomenon of climate change is worrying people all over the globe, a queer development resulting from the phenomenon has been observed here. It has given the muga farmers a brilliant commercial crop called the Late Katiya or Aghona crop.
This muga crop is bright golden in colour and better in texture, too, compared to the Jethuwa and the Katiya commercial crops. It can be spooled in a more comfortable manner. This crop has been found to be far better compared to the Jethuwa and Katiya commercial muga crops, said sources in the State�s Sericulture Directorate.
It needs mention here that there are six muga crops and of them Jethuwa and Katiya are the commercial crops. Of the rest four varieties, two are pre-seed crops while the other two are the seed crops.
The Katiya crop harvested in the Assamese month of Kati, i.e. the Gregorian solar months of September-October � has now been delayed by 15 to 20 days and has thus become known as Late Katiya (Gregorian solar months of October-November) or Aghona (derived from the Assamese month of Aghon, which falls in the Gregorian solar months of November-December) crop. This has been the trend in the last five years or so. The crop has become more popular among the State�s silk worm growers, the sources added.
Sources said this development is linked with the rise in the ambient temperature and lengthening of the summer season. However, due to the change in the climatic condition, Jethuwa production is not on the rise while the production of Katiya, or to be more precise the Late Katiya or Aghona muga crop, is on the rise, sources said.
The Jethuwa muga crop, the sources said, is now facing more problems like crop loss, etc. This has become more frequent these days, said the sources, adding that these days the actual maximum temperature, now recorded during the rearing of the Jethuwa crop, is 37 degrees Celsius on an average, while the minimum temperature recorded these days on an average is 28 degrees Celsius. The relative humidity recorded these days on an average also ranges between maximum 93 per cent and minimum 75 per cent.
The required maximum temperature for Jethuwa crop is 32 degrees Celsius and the minimum temperature required for this crop is 28 degrees Celsius, with the relative humidity ranging between minimum 80 per cent and maximum 90 per cent.
For the Katiya variety, the ideal maximum temperature is 28 degrees Celsius and the ideal minimum temperature is 20 degrees Celsius. The ideal minimum relative humidity for this crop is 70 per cent and the ideal maximum relative humidity for it is 85 per cent.
On an average, the actual maximum temperature during the Katiya crop season is 35 degrees Celsius and the minimum temperature during these days is 24 degrees Celsius and the relative humidity ranges between the maximum 90 per cent and the minimum 70 per cent, sources said.
