Nearly 70 per cent of State’s agricultural land is either drought or flood-prone, according to the Government estimates.
Out of about 61 lakh hectares of farm land, nearly 29 lakh hectares are highlands, prone to drought, and over 15 lakh hectares are low-lying, vulnerable to flood.
There are only 17.5 lakh hectares of land of the medium category, which are less prone to both drought and inundation. But crops grown on these lands are vulnerable to pest attacks most of the time.
Availability of less than 35 per cent irrigation facilities and depletion in groundwater level are affecting irrigation in highlands in the absence of adequate timely rains.
Agriculture experts opine that unless proper measures are put in place, drought and flood problems are difficult to be mitigated in over 70 per cent of the total agricultural land.
They are of the opinion that only suitable seeds can give best produce on these lands and for this farmers should be made aware of using such seeds.
While Kalahandi district has the highest 2.28 lakh hectares of highlands, Balangir and Ganjam have 1.90 lakh hectares each and Koraput and Mayurbhanj have 1.27 hectares each.
Similarly, Sundergarh has 1.63 hectares, Baragarh 1.83 lakh, Keonjhar 1.59 lakh, Nabarangpur and Rayagada have1.25 lakh hectares each, Nuapada has 1.33 lakh hectares and Angul has 1.68 lakh hectares.
Mayurbhanj district has the highest 4.37 lakh hectares of low lying agricultural land follw3ed by Ganjam 3.78 lakh hectares, Baragarh 3.49 lakh hectares, Balangir 3.45 hectares and Sundargarh 3.13 lakh hectares.
Mayurbhanja has also a total of 1.35 lakh hectares of medium category agricultural land followed by Ganjam, which has 1.13 lakh hectares.
No other district has over one lakh hectares of medium quality land.
Under these circumstances, the Government should encourage farmers to go for alternate crops rather than to concentrate on only paddy cultivation, feel agriculture experts.