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Informist, Wednesday, Sep 25, 2024

 

By Pallavi Singhal

 

NEW DELHI – Paddy production in Bihar is seen taking a hit on account of inadequate rainfall, according to Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, Bihar's agricultural secretary. As the southwest monsoon begins to recede, Bihar has recorded 28% less than normal rainfall from Jun 1 to Sep 25, as per the latest data by the India Meteorological Department.

With Bihar mainly depending on rainfall for irrigation, a significant decline in precipitation in parts of the state is expected to affect the overall paddy output to some extent. This has led to farmers looking into crop diversification. Bihar produced approximately 7 mln tn paddy in 2023-24, he said.
 

"Because of climate change, rainfall in Bihar has been on the downfall. Even this year, we are witnessing 30?ficit rainfall, which has seriously affected many areas of Bihar," Agrawal said, speaking to Informist on the sidelines of the India Maize Summit in Delhi today. 

 

According to him, paddy production is no longer a viable option in many parts of Bihar. "In some areas the rainfall is highly deficient and with paddy being a water consuming crop, some areas will be forced to move away from cultivation," he said. "Entire South Bihar has faced a drought-like situation this year. The government is thus looking to move to maize and focus on diversification," he said.

 
Bihar is looking to shift its farmers to the cultivation of maize in the kharif season. Kharif crops are sown at the beginning of the southwest monsoon season in June, and harvested at the end of the season around October, and then the rabi season starts.

"Bihar is already doing pretty well in growing maize in the rabi season, but to shift them (farmers) to maize during kharif has been challenging. So we are now focusing on using hybrid seeds which should increase yield, thereby increasing Bihar's overall maize production," Agarwal said. 

Overall, the state has about 950,000 ha under maize this year, of which only about 200,000 ha is to be used for sowing in the kharif season, he said. "We will be raising it to 300,000 ha this year with the use of hybrid seeds so that the production can increase," he said.  End

 

Edited by Aditya Sakorkar

 

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