Fall in paddy acreage likely in Haryana due to uneven rains
A fall in the acreage under paddy is likely in Haryana this year. Thanks to the poor rains during the sowing season. The area under paddy cultivation has so far reached around 10 lakh hectares
A fall in the acreage under paddy is likely in Haryana this year. Thanks to the poor rains during the sowing season.
Since Haryana is one of the major contributors of rice to the central pool, the development may trigger alarm bells about the decline of rice output from the state as Haryana had witnessed nearly 50 percent decline in wheat output last rabi season.
While the transplantation is almost over in most of the paddy sowing parts of the state, the area under paddy cultivation has so far reached around 10 lakh hectares, which is around 23 percent less than 13 lakh hectares of the previous year.
Officials claimed that final figures are yet to come. The figures may recover slightly as the translation was still going on in some rain-fed areas. But it is unlikely to reach beyond 11 lakh hectares.
The development may cause worry to the government as government agencies can procure around 41 lakh MT of wheat from Haryana farmers against the normal 80 lakh MT during the last rabi marketing season. Also, 50 percent of the total area under paddy cultivation is under basmati varieties, which are procured by private traders directly from farmers.
Though officials associated with the state agriculture department claimed that the decline in the area under paddy cultivation was reported due to cash incentive schemes announced by the government for diversification, the figures revealed that only a total of 57,000 acres or 23,067 hectares were registered under the “Mera Pani Meri Virasat Scheme” for which ₹7,000 cash incentive is being provided to the farmers for adopting alternative crops.
Also, 1.07 lakh acres registered under the direct seeded rice (DSR) technique have already been included to the paddy acreage.
‘Inconsistent rains main factor’
On the other hand, farmers and agriculture experts are of the view that inconsistent and delayed monsoon is the key factor behind the fall in the paddy acreage as several farmers, especially those in the rain-fed areas, could not prepare the fields for transplantation due to the lack of rains.
As per the rainfall figures of the India meteorological department, six districts of the state have reported deficient rainfall, while 10 districts received normal rains, four districts received excess and two reported large excess rains from June 1 to July 19. Rains in most of the districts of the state were very poor from June 15 to June 30 which is considered the best time for paddy transplantation.
What officials say
The maximum rainfall was reported in the first week of July. Again, the rains were very poor in most of the districts in the second week of July.
Jagraj Dandi, joint director (statics), Haryana state agriculture department, said, “As per the latest figures, paddy sowing has been reported on around 10 lakh hectares, including around 1 lakh acres under the DSR technique, in the state and the figures may improve slightly as transplantation was still going on in some areas”.
On the reason behind the fall in the area, he said that the biggest reason is that the government had introduced a diversification plan, “Mera Pani, Meri Virasat”, which has attracted farmers to alternate crops.
The official said that around 50 percent of the total acreage is under basmati varieties and the government agencies will be procuring the produce of around 6 lakh hectares in the coming kharif marketing season.
