Jharkhand heads towards early season drought

Jharkhand has 51 per cent rainfall deficit this monsoon so far and is heading towards an early season drought, experts and government officials said. With monsoon rains giving the state the miss during the peak sowing season, the sowing of paddy is less than ten per cent so far, they said.

The ideal period of sowing paddy has ended on July 20, the experts said. In Jharkhand the cultivators generally prepare their farm fields for sowing from June 15. The full-fledged sowing activity begins by July 1 and continues till July 31.

The ideal sowing period for paddy is, however, between July 1 and July 20, experts said. Delayed and scanty rainfall in the early months of the monsoon have been plaguing the state for the past few years and farmers have been forced to carry on the sowing activity till August 15. This extended sowing has naturally hampered yield, they said. “The situation is alarming for paddy cultivation.

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If Jharkhand does not get adequate rainfall in the next five days, the yield will get hampered majorly. Ideal sowing period for paddy has almost over in Jharkhand. However, the situation is not bad for upland crops such as pulses and maize,” P K Singh, a senior agro scientist at Birsa Agriculture University (BAU) here told PTI, The situation vis a vis sowing can be gauged from the district-wise kharif coverage data of the state agriculture department, which said that paddy sowing could not be started in 13 of the 24 districts of the state till Wednesday.

Paddy, which is the main crop of the season, sowing was done in 1.68 lakh hectares or a mere 9.56 per cent of the targeted 18 lakh hectares till July 20. Khiru Mahto, a farmer in Ranchi’s Rahe block told PTI that paddy seedlings are drying up in the nurseries. “We are not able to transplant the seedlings in the absence of sufficient water in the fields. We are worried as the sowing season has almost ended,” he said. Ranchi district has achieved a mere 1.5 per cent sowing coverage till Wednesday. A rough calculation suggests that Jharkhand experienced drought if it receives deficient rainfall in June and July.

Jharkhand faced drought years in 2013, 2018 and 2019.

In 2020, 55 blocks across seven districts had been declared drought affected. In 2013, Jharkhand had received eight per cent deficient rainfall in June and 37 per cent in July. In 2018, the state had faced 35 per cent rain shortfall in June and 18 per cent in July. In 2019, the state experienced 55 per cent rain shortfall in June and 25 per cent in July. This year, the state has faced 49 per cent rain shortfall in June and 51 percent deficit till July 20. Jharkhand has received 192.9mm of rainfall from June 1 to July 20 against the normal rainfall of 391.8mm rainfall during the period.

Six districts of the state are facing above 70 per cent rain shortfall with Sahibganj recording the highest rain deficit of 82 per cent till July 20. “Monsoon has been weak over Jharkhand till now. We are hoping that the state will receive good rainfall during the next five days as a cyclonic circulation is prevailing over Jharkhand. This expected rainfall may reduce the shortfall gap,” Abhishek Anand, in-charge of Ranchi meteorological centre, told PTI.

State Agriculture Minister Badal Patralekh has called a meeting on Thursday to review the situation. The agriculture department has meanwhile started implementing its contingency plan to deal with the situation. State agriculture director Nisha Oraon Singhmar told PTI said the department has given direction to private dealers to stop the sale of long-duration varieties immediately and encourage short duration varieties.

“We have also asked district agriculture officers to organise Krishak Goshtis (farmer groups) to encourage selected varieties and special techniques for growing short-duration seed varieties. Emphasis is being given on direct seeding of rice and the system of rice intensification methods,” Singhmar said.

The coverage of other kharif crops is a little encouraging. The maize sowing coverage till date is 48 per cent, pulses 24.26 per cent, oil seeds 32.24 per cent and coarse cereals 11.93 per cent, according to the coverage data. “We held a meeting on Wednesday with district agriculture officers (DAOs) of 16 districts where rainfall deficit is more than 50 per cent. Earlier, on July 15, we had a meeting with eight districts where rain shortfall is between 30 per cent and 50 per cent,” Singhmar added.