Gurbaru Jued of Mudosil village of Khariar block started sowing paddy in 3 acres of land in first week of June buoyed by prediction of good monsoon rain this year. However, 60 per cent of the seed did not germinate.
“Seed quality was good, but germination failed as the rainfall was very scanty. The seed that stayed on top of the soil dried,” said Gurbaru.
Nuapada district as a whole received 237 mm of rainfall in June, which was 12.96 per cent more than the normal (210 mm) for the month.
But the precipitation up to the third week of June was very much sporadic with only 42 per cent (100 mm) of the total rain falling sporadically over twenty days.
There was also big inter-block difference in rainfall pattern. Rainfall in Boden block was 30 per cent deficient in June and 25 per cent less in July. likewise in Sinapali block it was about 22 per cent less than the normal in June and 24 per cent in July. In Khariar block, the deficiency in June was about 19 per cent, which was followed by a whipping 46.52 per cent less in July that played havoc for the farmers who opted for seed broadcasting method. Similar failure of sown paddy crop was witnessed in Boden and Sinapali blocks of the district.
“More than 40 per cent plants in almost all sown lands have dried in our village,” said Nilambar Majhi and Bhaleswar Majhi of Jharnamal village in Boden block.
“Total area covered under paddy till July 13 last in Nuapada district was about 66,505 hectares (ha). Out of that, transplantation has been done in only 45 to 50 ha,” infoormed Deputy Director, Agriculture (DDA), Nuapada Umesh Chandra Das. From this, it can be estimated that, about 80 per cent of the existing paddy area (82,353 ha) in the district has been covered under broadcasting method, which have suffered immensely due to sporadic rain in various parts of the district.
“The tendency of broadcasting of paddy is gradually increasing, as a result of climate change. Uncertain rain has forced farmers to go for sowing, because dry spell causes delay in transplantation operation,” adds the DDA. About 10 to 15 per cent increase has been marked in paddy cultivation. Broadcasting of paddy was carried on in approximately 70 per cent of the land under paddy coverage last year where as it has gone up to more than 83 per cent in some blocks this year,” AAOs of Khariar and Boden blocks said.