Jharkhand inches towards drought-like situation due to scant rainfall: Officials
RANCHI: Jharkhand is inching towards a drought-like situation due to 45 per cent rain deficit, leading to around 85 per cent of the arable land in the state remaining fallow in the peak monsoon season, officials said.
Kharif crops were sown in only 4.15 lakh hectares against the target of 28.27 lakh hectares till July 21 or only in 14.71 per cent of the arable land. In 2022, around 20.40 per cent of the arable land was cultivated till the corresponding date, according to official data.
Sowing of the main crop of the season, paddy, was even lesser at 11.20 per cent of the target of 18 lakh hectares. Last year, the figure was 11.76 per cent till July 21.
According to agricultural experts, the ideal sowing period for paddy is from July 1 to July 20.
With delayed or scant rainfall in the early months of monsoon in the last few years, many farmers nowadays sow crops till mid-August but that does not lead to a good harvest, they said.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has also expressed concern over the situation.
In a function in Ranchi on Saturday, he said, “In the backdrop of climate change, farmers must be informed about what changes are required in farming.”
Birsa Agricultural University (BAU), Ranchi, Director Research P K Singh told PTI, “The next seven to eight days are very crucial for the farmers of Jharkhand. If we get a good spell of rainfall, farmers will bring more hectares under cultivation and the impact of the drought situation will be less.”
In 11 of the 24 districts, paddy was sown in less than 5 per cent of the targeted area till July 21. Only West Singhbhum district has recorded sowing of paddy in 50 per cent of the targeted land, according to the state agriculture department’s data.
Ravindra Mahato, a farmer from Hazaribag, said that he had prepared his paddy nursery on time due to good rainfall since June 20 but could not start transplantation of seedlings from the nursery to farms in July due to scanty rainfall.
