Bihar is looking at its poorest paddy crop in years this kharif season since there has just been 38% coverage against the targeted area of land for cultivation so far, owing to 68% rain deficiency in July, a scenario worse than 2018 when around 20% of rain deficiency led to a drought-like situation in the state, according to data from the agriculture department.
Officials said the state government is gearing up to announce a contingency crop plan for providing seeds to affected farmers for growing alternative crops. Diesel subsidy scheme will be launched from Friday, they said.
According to the latest figures from agriculture department, the paddy coverage so far is just 38% of the target of 35.12 lakh hectares set for paddy cultivation this year. It means only 13.34 lakh hectares have been covered under paddy crop, one of the main conventional crops in kharif season, across all 38 districts in the state.
“There is already a big crisis in terms of poor paddy coverage. Definitely, the scenario is bleak and the paddy production is likely to be poor this season,” said N Saravana Kumar, secretary, agriculture. He said the only hope is of sufficient rains in the next few weeks, which could improve paddy coverage, especially in districts like Nawada, Munger and Jamui where paddy transplantation is done late.
Officials said the damage to paddy seedlings has already been extensive this season owing to the long dry spell in July, which would adversely affect both the coverage of paddy crop and production, unlike the last few years when rains were normal in the month of July and last week of June, the period when paddy seedlings are transplanted in fields and require big volume of water.
Data shows that districts in Patna and Magadh divisions, where paddy is the main crop, are the worst hit. In Rohtas, the coverage is 36.1%, Buxar (19.8%), Bhojpur (15.6%), Kaimur (11.8%) and Jehanabad (12.1%).
In Magadh division, Gaya has had a coverage of only 6.1%, Nawada (3.3%), Munger (3.9%) and Jamui (1.6%).
In north Bihar, the scenario is slightly better, with districts like Darbhanga achieving 35.3% of the targeted coverage while Madhubani, East and West Champaran have coverage ranging from 54% to 71%. Gopalganj has had coverage of 78.1%. Districts in Kosi division and Seemanchal also have coverage above 40%.
“The worrying factor is that west and southern Bihar districts, considered the rice bowl of Bihar, have been badly hit due to deficient rainfall, although farmers in this region have been using MTU 7029 paddy seed, which is effective in resisting long dry spells. But if there are less rains in August, there would be big damage,” said an agriculture department official.
Bihar has been witnessing deficient rains regularly in the last several years. In 2015, there was 27% rain deficiency while in 2018 , it was 20%, prompting the government to declare 206 blocks in 23 of the 38 districts of the state as drought-affected.
Meanwhile, the state government has already begun preparations for contingency plans to provide succour to farmers. On Wednesday, chief secretary Amir Subhani held a meeting with top officials and directed them to ensure that canals and reservoirs should provide water to fields and diesel subsidy scheme should be rolled out.
“We are already providing 16 hours of power from agriculture feeder in rural areas for irrigation. Diesel subsidy of ₹60 per litre would be rolled out from Friday by inviting applications,”said the agriculture secretary.
He said a contingency plan worth ₹30 crore for providing seeds and other benefits to farmers has been prepared and would be rolled out soon.
Officials estimate this season’s rice production to be 60 -62 lakh metric tonnes in case the paddy coverage does not improve substantially. “It is hard to estimate of paddy production this season. But surely, it will be poor because of deficient rains,” said Saravana.
Headline: Fears of a looming drought
Intro: Rain deficiency of 68% of in July has triggered fears of a redux of 2018, when 206 blocks in 23 of the 38 districts in the state were declared drought-hit
Paddy coverage target area: 35.12 lakh hectares
Coverage achieved so far: 13.34 lakh hectares (38%)
Rainfall deficiency in July: 68%
Paddy plantation period: June-end to mid-July
Estimated rice production this year: 60-62 lakh metric tonnes
Rice production in past
Year: Production
2021: 71 lakh metric tonnes
2020: 73.92 lakh metric tonnes
2019: 69 lakh metric tonnes
