Dismal monsoons in Maharashtra are likely to impact cotton and soya in Marathwada Vidarbha region, according to top officials of the state’s agriculture department.
After solid start in June, there has been a complete dry spell in July to be followed by few spells of rains in the first fortnight of August. The impact is evident on the state’s farm sector. Although nearly 87% of the sowing operations have been completed across the state so far, officials have now begun thinking on the lines of planning for Rabi since it is too late to even go in for contingency plans to rescue the Kharif season.
The area under Rabi is therefore likely to increase this year by 20%, top officials say. Of the total of 134 lakh hectares, plantation has been completed on 117.23 lakh hectares till date.
According to Vikas Deshmukh, Agriculture Commissioner, although sowing operations have been completed well in time, the complete dry spell in July has resulted in wilting of crops for the want of rains. ” In June there has been 103% average rainfall which has dropped down to just 33% in July. So while the planting has been done the dry spell has affected standing crop and this will in turn affect overall production,” he said. This year cannot be compared to the previous year at all since last year after a lean start,monsoons began late in July and picked up later while the picture has been reverse this year, he said.
The scene in Marathwada region is pretty bad with reports of less then 50% rain, he said. “Seven districts in Maharashtra have been identified as less than 50% rain and the impact will definitely been seen on crops. These include Nashik, Solapur, Kolhapur, Beed, Latur, Osmanabad and Parbhani. Kolhapur traditionally witnesses heavy rainfall and has been able to make up because of its water levels. Solapur is primarily a Rabi crop region. The impact will be seen on crops in these regions,” Deshmukh said. “Soybean, cotton and jowar have been impacted the most because there has been a 35-40 day gap after the planting. In the last three days there has been some rainfall in Vidarbha regon but this may not be enough for the standing crop and the impact will be seen soon,” he said.
Although the department had issued advisories for farmers to go in for bajra, tur and maize because of the the absence of rains, the farmers did not go in for these crops and scientists at several agriculture universities in the state have recommended that sowing cotton and soya after July 31 is not an option at all since this damages the crop quality and results in pest infestation, he pointed out. About 16 districts have been identified with less than 75% rains and another 10 districts have had between 75-100% rainfall.
The Commissionerate has sent out teams to gather data and the first estimates which include the possile damage to the crop will be issued by August 31 and reports will be sent to the Centre, he said. He was willing to give out any damage estimates. Sources from the department say the delayed monsoon has affected nearly 6 lakh hectares.
The Marathwada region has been suffering from deficit rainfall for the last three years. This year’s delayed monsoon has completely destroyed crops of soyabean, mung, cotton, and sesame seeds. The farmers are now dependent on rabi crops such as jowar, corn and soyabean.A three-member Central team is touring Maharashtra’s rain-deficit areas of Marathwada and a report is expected soon.
This has been among the best seasons for both cotton and soya in the country so far with the total area sown under Soyabean crossing 111.859 lakh hectares this Kharif season, probably the highest in recent years. In Maharashtra however, the crop was sown in 25 lakh hectares down from 28.2 lakh hectares last year. The government has meanwhile set into motion the planning process for Rabi. “Rabi planning is underway done. First is the area that has not been sown during the Kharif season will be converted into Rabi. Seed availibility with companies is being checked out.The area that has had planting but seen crop damage will also be converted into Rabi. Around 63 lakh hectares comes udner Rabi plantation in the state and this area is likely to increase by around 20%,” the Commissioner said.
Major Rabi crops in the state include maize, gram, bajra. In Konkan region, replanting of paddy is still underway. We are hoping for some good rains so that the Rabi crop can be saved. A Rs 25 crore fodder program is being chalked out for farmers.
Meanwhile the government is seriously considering artificial rain to combat the drought like situation in the state with Aurangabad being made the main base for operations. Trial run for cloud seeding was done in Jalna, Beed, Osmanabad and Latur districts of Maharashtra . Maharashtra agriculture minister Eknath Khadse had said that 200 hours of cloud seeding would be done and 100 hours of cloud seeding would be given free of charge by the Khyati Climate Modification Company. He said that experimentation would be conducted for 90 days and C-Band doppler radar would be pressed into service. The minister had said the government’s cloud seeding project worth Rs. 27 crore has yielded positive results in some of the drought-prone areas and it will continue till the end of September 2015.