Nagaland fears 'drought-like situation' amid Covid-19 pandemic

With almost no rains since December, forest-rich Nagaland is fearing a "drought-like" situation and a serious impact on the state's agriculture and horticulture amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Calling it a possible impact of climate change, state agriculture minister G Kaito Aye said lack of rains have already affected 68,662 hectares of jhum fields (cultivation on the hill slopes) in 915 villages affecting almost all the districts.

"The climate this year is very peculiar. More than 70 per cent of farmers are dependent on jhum cultivation but with hardly any rains between December 2020 and April, the agriculture and horticulture crops under jhum have been adversely affected leading to poor germination and wilting of standing crops," he told reporters in state capital Kohima on Wednesday.

He said various seasonal crops such as cardamom are drying up and farmers are losing maize due to an infestation of Fall Army Worms. "If such a situation continues, the state may face a drought-like situation," he said.

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Mhathung Yanthan, advisor to the agriculture minister, said the state, the state with over 52 per cent forest cover, was witnessing a peculiar weather condition for the past few years with some parts reporting excess rainfall whereas many having no rain at all for long. "The farmers are going through sowing season now and germination period of crops are badly affected due to insufficient rainfall this year which will ultimately affect the crop production in the state. The government is trying to help the farmers but there is a need for a change in the agriculture system to suit with the changing times, environment and climate and to incorporate climate-resilient crops in the state agriculture system," he said.

This may lead to a shortage of food items among farmers as their livelihood is solely dependent on farming on the hills.

He further said that a dearth of rainfall has affected commercial crops like large cardamom, fruits and vegetables and other livestock such as fisheries, piggery etc. "The situation in the agricultural scenario has been further aggravated through infestation by fall army worm during the last week of March affecting 3048.45 hectares of maize crop covering 334 villages and despite timely intervention by the departments, the worms infestation could not be completely neutralized," he said.