A delayed monsoon coupled with heat waves across the state has brought down vegetable production in West Bengal significantly. The Aman paddy sowing has also been affected due the delayed monsoon.
While the scheduled date for southwest monsoon in West Bengal was June 8, its arrival has been late in last few years. While in 2003, monsoon reached the state on June 18, it hit the state on June 23 in 2005 and June 14 in 2007. In the first 15 days of June this year, the rainfall deficit crossed 70% in the state.
State agriculture marketing minister Arup Roy said, ?Vegetable production in the state has been affected severely. We have already started to see its impact in the market.? The agriculture department is yet to assess the full impact of the delay in monsoon on vegetable production this year.
West Bengal produced around 1.3 crore tonne vegetable in 2010-11, a marginal increase over 1.30 crore tonne produced in 2009-10. Area under cultivation for vegetables in 2010-11 had increased to 9.43 lakh ha from 9.33 lakh ha in 2009-10.
Production of Aman paddy has also been affected due to delayed monsoon. Sowing of seeds for Aman paddy starts in the first week of June, but a lack of rainfall has delayed the process. In West Bengal wet beds are used for paddy nurseries and it requires a good amount of soil moisture content. A good rainfall helps to improve the water table content for raising paddy nurseries.
The state?s production of Aman paddy production came down from 96 lakh tonne in 2009-10 to 84 lakh tonne in 2010-11. The area under cultivation for Aman paddy has also come down to 33 lakh ha in 2010-11 from 40 lakh ha in 2009-10. An increased yield over the years has helped to push Aman paddy production in the state.