Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, July 27: Facing brunt of extremely erratic monsoon, the famous Basmati production of Jammu and Samba border belt is likely to hit and go down by nearly 25-30% this year as entire Jammu province has been experiencing over 45% rain deficit this season.
Not only the Basmati rice in the border belt of RS Pura, Bishnah, Ramgarh and Marh but the Kharif crops including maize, pulses, sesame (Til) etc in all the 10 districts of Jammu province have also been badly hit due to late and erratic monsoon. It’s not only J&K, but the farmers from the neighbouring States of Punjab and Haryana are also facing the challenge of rain deficit despite having large network of irrigation.
Insufficient rains and inadequate water supply through canals in this border belt of Jammu besides non-functioning of nearly 50-60% tube wells have delayed the sowing of paddy crop in parts of Jammu and Samba districts by nearly three to four weeks. A major portion of the land is still lying unsown in these areas and farmers are worried about the fate of their crop in view of less rains.
Chief Scientist and Head Agro-meterology Department, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Science and Technology (SKUAST), Jammu Dr M K Khushu, said, “ From June 1 to July 23, the SKUAST recorded nearly 45% rain deficit in entire Jammu region. Ramban district is the highest where rain deficit was found to be nearly 60% followed by Poonch and Doda. In Kathua, it was lowest (26 %) while in Jammu district it was around 45 %, which is certainly a cause of worry.’’
Dr Khushu further said the rain during last night and early morning in the region brought a little relief to the farming community and the people associated with the Agriculture production. He disclosed that 52 mm rain was recorded in past 24 hours in the region and this much rain is sufficient for the farmers to sow their crops in next 4-5 days. “There is still some time to sow Basmati and other crops provided we get at least 7 mm to 10 mm rain every day in next at least one week. Situation is not so alarming, at least 3-4 more rains of this kind are enough to overcome the situation and if we don’t get such rains, the things may go beyond ones control, affecting the crop production,’’ he maintained.
Replying to a question, the SKUAST Scientist said a contingency plan has been formulated by the University and forwarded to the State Agriculture Department. He said the officers of the department have been educated and asked to circulate it further for awareness and follow the advisories. Responding to another query Dr Khushu said the paddy needs frequent rains. Plants if not submerged in water, the land should be enough wet and it should not develop cracks due to rain deficiency or lack of irrigation facilities.
Dy Director (Central), Agriculture Department Jammu, Dr Ramakant Sharma said that rainfall deficiency has directly hit the Kharif sowing in the region. District Ramban and Doda have witnessed the highest deficit followed by Poonch, Kishtwar, Jammu, Udhampur and Reasi. He claimed that in Jammu region there is total 3.86 lakh hectares Kharif crop sown area and as per data provided by district officers concerned as of now, nearly 3.17 lakh hactare area has been covered so far. He further disclosed that in Jammu district last year the paddy/ Basmati was sown in 26000 hactare of area, in Samba on 6360 hactare while in Kathua on nearly 38,000 hactare of area and the production was nearly 18-20 quintal per hactare. If the rain position remained the same in next one week, nearly 15,000 to 20,000 hactare of basmati sown area of R S Pura, Bishnah, Samba and Kathua border belts besides other tail end areas of canal network will be left over, the Dy Director maintained.
Dev Raj, member State Kissan Advisory Board and president Kissan Union R S Pura who is a prospective Basmati grower and Sarpanch, Baspur Bangla said till last three days, hardly 10% Basmati crop had been sown on the available land in RS Pura and Bishnah belt of Jammu district. He said last night’s rain has given a little hope to the worried farmer to make recovery. The paddy seedlings (Paniri) take at least one and half month to prepare and require at least 20-25 days for undergoing the process of transplanting. If delayed, the seedlings also get affected giving poor crop. It also becomes difficult to transplant the paddy seedlings again as if the desirable time frame gets lapsed, the farmer can not make the recovery.
Commenting on the last year’s production of Basmati, Ch Dev Raj said as per data provided by the department, nearly 2.5 lakh mt ton Basmati was produced in Jammu and parts of Samba district including Marh block. The production will certainly go low by 25- 30% this year. He said till now over 55-60% sown area should have been covered but with 10- to 15% area having covered so far in the absence of rains, it is not easy to do miracles. He said irrigation water is not available up to the tail end in the canals and farmers are worried. Over 60% tube wells in the area are lying defunct and mismanagement of canal water goes unchecked. Under such circumstances it is not easy to overcome the problem. He said the claims of Agriculture department officials having covered good area under paddy are just hollow and the ground reality is some thing different.
Kissan leader further said hardly one week time is enough to make recovery but non-availability of labour force and uncertainty over the rain in next 10-12 days is another issues which is still cause of concern for the farmers. Unless improvement in irrigation infrastructure is made, the things can not be improved, he maintained.
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