Lack of rain is likely to affect the production of paddy and maize in
26-Sep-2024 04:56 PM
Bihar. Patna. Due to lack of adequate rain during the monsoon season, the production of Kharif paddy in Bihar is likely to be affected this time.
According to the Agriculture Secretary of Bihar, this year during the southwest monsoon season, Bihar received 28 percent less rainfall than the normal average during June 1 to September 25. Since Bihar mainly depends on rain for irrigation of crops, the total production of paddy will decrease due to very less rainfall in some parts of the state.
In view of this, now the interest of farmers has started increasing towards crop diversification.
According to the Agriculture Secretary, about 7 lakh tonnes of paddy was produced in Bihar during the 2023-24 season.
The Agriculture Secretary said that paddy cultivation is no longer proving to be very profitable for the farmers of Bihar.
Rainfall has started decreasing in some areas, whereas paddy crop needs the most water for irrigation.
As a result, farmers in some areas can now give priority to the cultivation of other crops instead of paddy.
This year, there is a drought-like situation in almost the entire South Bihar, so the government wants to encourage the cultivation of maize there.
It is worth mentioning that in Bihar, most of the maize is produced in the Rabi season, while the government wants farmers to try to increase its area in the Kharif season as well.
Its sowing should be done in June at the beginning of the monsoon season and the crop should be harvested in September-October so that farmers get enough time for sowing in the Rabi season. Bihar ranks first in terms of maize production in the Rabi season.
Overall, about 9.50 lakh hectares of land is reserved for maize cultivation in Bihar, but only 2 lakh hectares can be used in the Kharif season.
There is a plan to increase it to 3 lakh hectares next year. For this, hybrid seeds will be provided to the farmers.
Now the farmers have started the necessary preparations for sowing maize during the Rabi season. There is a possibility of a decrease in the production of this coarse grain in the Kharif season.