Drought destroys joy of record winter paddy yield

A stretch of land affected by drought Cachar, Feb 17 : Celebrations of a record winter harvest in Cachar have been cut short by the imminent danger of a drought destroying the spring crops. Over 200,000 farming families in the district were awash with joy when their fields yielded 251,719 tonnes of sali crop — a paddy harvested in November-December. The figure broke the earlier record of 217,095 tonnes of crop, reaped on 97,000 hectares in 1999-2000. The district agriculture information officer, Shekhar Bhattacharjee, said another landmark achieved this year was the increase in the per hectare output. Every hectare yielded 2.6 tonnes of rice. The use of high-quality seeds and good harvest in Sonai, Kathigorah, Udarbond, Dholai and Lakhipur blocks contributed to the record output. The figure, however, is far behind the average production of Punjab and Haryana. An agriculture subdivisional officer in Lakhipur subdivision, Jagadish Nath, said: “Such a record was possible as the climate was congenial for rice cultivation. The rain was evenly spread throughout the district and floods did not torment the farmers.”  Weather’s blessings, however, evaporated by the end of October. Seeds sowed in winter for a boro harvest in end-March and early-April did not receive any rain in the past three months. Acres of crops now lie thirsting for rain and it will only be weeks before they begin to wither. The district has irrigation facilities for only 800 of the 97,000 hectares of farmland, leaving peasants to look skyward for relief. If the crop fails, even the record sali harvest will not be able to save Cachar from a food deficit. The district needs 290,000 tonnes of rice a year.  Even when the district manages to produce the 217,000 tonnes of crop expected of it, there is a shortfall, which is made up with supplies from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and states like Punjab, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. If Cachar fails to produce its quota, the district is forced to be entirely dependent on imported crop. This year, though, the district has managed to scrape through its quota with the sali harvest alone. Whether boro will add to the yield, only the rain gods can tell.