Agartala, July 18: Deficit in seasonal rainfall adversely affected the Aush season paddy harvest this year as a vast area of irrigable land could not be cultivated in absence of adequate water supply.
Out of 29,000 hectares of land, production of paddy could be made possible in only 7,485 hectares of land, Tripura agriculture and farmer’s welfare Minister Ratan Lal Nath told media persons at the civil secretariat here in Agartala.
According to Nath, in normal course the total seasonal rainfall stands at 584 millimeters in the Aush season while this year the total rainfall recorded to be 240 millimeters. The rainfall deficit for the season is 59 percent.
“Considering the whole situation and massive shortfall in the production of paddy, the agriculture department has taken up a holistic plan to cover up the deficiency of the paddy in the next season which is locally called the Aman season. After consulting the experts in the field of agriculture and climate studies, the agriculture department has planned to not only cover up the shortfall but to even reach the surplus stage”, the Minister has added.
Worried over the changing climatic situation, Nath also informed the media persons that the rainfall of Aman season is also on the lower side. “Generally, 629.2 mm rainfall is recorded in the middle of July but this year the cumulative rainfall so far stands at 518.8 millimeter with an 18 percent deficit. Even this week, there are no signs of heavy rainfall but still we feel things will be normal in the days to come”, he told media persons.
On the double production plan, he said, under the Chief Minister integrated crop management system, a whopping sum of Rs 65.77 crore has been allocated for increasing the paddy production.
“We have identified 1.48 lakh hectares of land where the paddy will be grown in the next season. Even if we fail to achieve the whole, we shall definitely do 1.16 lakh hectares. For this special project, each of the farmers will get Rs 5,650 per hectare. A share of the money will be deposited through DBT for engaging labourers in their cropland and the rest of the money will be given through assistance as fertilizers. There are three kinds of fertilizers: if they procure from the open market and submit the bills it will be reimbursed. Apart from that, five principles of farming has also been communicated to the farmers through KVK and farming field schools so that the sowing and harvesting is done following the scientifically proven methods”, said Nath adding that if these principles are adhered to properly the per hectare production of the paddy will shoot up to 3,700 kgs from existing 3,200 kgs.
According to the Minister, a high level meeting regarding this revised target for the Aman season took place at Pragya Bhawan Agartala where officials of the agriculture department had made a commitment to avoid going on any leave for the next 25 days—the sowing period for the Aman season.