Rainfall deficit in Odisha’s Deogarh district

DEOGARH: With rainfall still deficit in most parts of Deogarh district this monsoon, farmers are worried over the likelihood of a low crop yield.

Farmers of the district are mostly dependent on monsoon rainfall for kharif cultivation. Though farm activities had picked up pace during May end owing to surplus rain, in June and July, the district received below-average rainfall leading to disturbance in the cultivation cycle.

The district recorded 137.2 mm rainfall in May as against the normal average of 49 mm. In June, against the normal average rainfall of 202.7 mm, it received around 166.1 mm rainfall. Similarly in July, the district records 350.9 mm rainfall but this year it has recorded 184.7 mm rain so far. The declining rainfall has proved to be worrisome for the farmers.

In the current season, paddy is scheduled to be cultivated on 32,150 hectare land. Of the total, sowing has been carried out on 17,005 hectare and transplantation underway on 1,378 hectare. This apart, seedlings are being prepared on 727 hectare land while on the remaining patch, farmers have either undertaken ploughing activities or left them uncultivated. At present, over 15 per cent land is lying fallow.

Abhiram Dehury, a farmer, said they had been waiting for rain since the last three weeks to plant their seedlings. The seedlings grown from hybrid seeds require to be planted within 20 days.

“In the absence of rainfall, farmers are incurring additional expenses to draw water from ponds and small check dams or other water bodies nearby to keep the seedlings alive. However, the other water sources are not sufficient for transplantation,” he said adding, farmers might suffer huge losses if they fail to get good yield. Small farmers and sharecroppers will be the worst sufferers as they have borrowed money for cultivation, he added.