As the monsoon plays truant, over 95% of Orissa?s kharif crop is suffering due to lack of adequate rainfall.
?The rainfall so far is so erratic that some blocks in certain districts, and even within a block certain panchyats have been badly impacted,? said state agriculture minister Damodar Rout.
There was late sowing and in some areas and paddy transplantation was not possible due to scanty rainfall. At some blocks like Tieibeni of Deogarh district, some areas of Sambalpur and Sundergarh districts, the kharif crop couldn?t be sowed, he added.
What has added to the misery of farmers is pest attacks. Over 30,000 hectare of the kharif crop has been badly hit by the pest attack which is turning into an epidemic in the western and northern districts of the state.
The state government has set a target of harvesting 80.63 lakh tonne rice from 36.80 lakh hectare covered under kharif 2009. The foodgrain target has been set at 91.42 lakh tonne, including 3.90 lakh tonne pulses, with oil seed production pegged at 3.40 lakh tonnes during the kharif season.
Rout said the state?s kharif production may face a setback due to the drought like situation and the pest attacks.
The minister and agriculture secretary UP Singh has submitted a detailed report on the kharif crop situation at last Friday?s national conference convened by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar in Delhi.