drops of hope

Patna, Sept. 16: A thick cloud cover accompanied by rain in most parts of Bihar between Wednesday evening and Thursday evening has brought welcome relief to the farming community.

The 13.2mm rainfall during the period has rekindled farmers’ hope of reaping a robust harvest after a gap of two years when the state had faced a drought.

Except Kaimur, Bhagalpur, Gopalganj, Khagaria, Kishanganj and Sheikhpura, all the other 32 districts received rainfall in the past 24 hours.

Courtesy the good rainfall in the first three months (June to August) of the monsoon season, against the target of 35.5 lakh hectares, paddy, which is the main crop of the kharif season, was planted in 33.79 lakh hectares this year. Good rainfall had ensured good growth of plants as well but a lull in September had put a question on the harvest.

Things, however, changed rapidly from Wednesday evening when rain-bearing clouds enveloped most parts of the state.

“We call it ‘golden drops’ because the standing paddy is at a very crucial juncture of the crop cycle and any moisture stress at this level would adversely hit the productivity,” agriculture department expert Anil Kumar Jha told The Telegraph today, adding that since the rainfall was received across the state it would help the farmers of Bihar.

The feeling of the expert was reflected in the mood of the farmers for whom the first half of September had proved to be a testing time because of lull in monsoon.

“We had become a bit pessimistic because of the lull but the current rainfall has rekindled hope of reaping a good harvest after two years,” said Sheikh Iqbal, a farmer from Jatwa village in East Champaran district.

As things stand now, the standing crop is either in booting stage or in panicle stage. A plant is said to be in a booting stage when the panicle remains inside the stem of the plant, whereas in the panicle stage the grains become visible in the panicle of the plant.

Jha said another spell of good rainfall in the next 15-20 days would help reap a very healthy harvest and the state’s rice production would touch the 70-lakh-tonnes mark, which would be almost the double of what the state’s rice production stood a year earlier when Bihar had faced a severe drought.

Jha added that the September rainfall would also help the rabi crops as it would help in increasing the soil moisture that is a must for such crops.

If one goes by what the weathermen have to say about conditions in the coming few days, the agriculture department expert and the farming community have something more to cheer about.

The Met department feels that there is more rainfall in store in the coming two-three days.

“Many parts of Bihar would receive rainfall in the coming two-three days under the impact of low pressure area prevailing over Gangetic Bengal and adjoining areas,” Met director Animesh Chanda said.