Relief in sight

Jamshedpur, July 3: The monsoon, which finally arrived on June 29, will hardly have an impact on the state’s foodgrain requirement though production of some varieties of rice and wheat will be severely hit.

Experts at Birsa Agriculture University (BAU) in Ranchi said that the state was self-sufficient to meet the immediate demand for rice and wheat. Jharkhand, at present, has a buffer stock of 30 million tonnes of rice and 25 million tonnes of wheat.

“During the drought of 1965, it was worse. We did not have buffer stock then. People had to starve, but now it is different. The yield of rice and wheat in the state has been sufficient over all these years and we have created a buffer stock of 55 million tonnes of rice and wheat,” said B.N. Singh, the BAU director (research).

But paddy varieties such as Swarna and Samamasuri, which generally grow in low-lying areas, have been affected because of a delayed monsoon, he said. Farmers will now have to resort to other varieties such as Lalat, Naveen, Birsa and Shankar, which ripen within a shorter period of time — between 90 and 120 days.

As an alternative, farmers in the state have been directed to change the crop pattern this year. “The Swarna variety takes about 145 days to be harvested and we have already lost the time to plant them. Now, we have to go for other paddy varieties to meet the demand. These are varieties that can sustain even when there is less rainfall,” said Singh.

Last year, the state yielded 35 lakh tonnes of paddy from 16 lakh hectares of land, but this year because of the delayed monsoon, farmers will have to squeeze their productivity area to about 12 lakh hectares. The rest 4 lakh hectares of land will be used to plant substitutes like pulses and ragi of hybrid variety.

Scientists at Horticulture Agro Forestry Research Programme (HARP), Ranchi, feel the same in terms of vegetables. “There is scarcity in the market and the prices are rising. Farmers have not yet started planting of lady’s finger, tomato and brinjal. The yield is expected to dip by 20 per cent,” said Ranbir Singh, a scientist with HARP.