Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Feb 26: During the Kharif season this time, due to too heavy rainfall and floods, over 91,000 hectares of paddy crop had suffered extensive loss. Now, during the Rabi season too, the planting of seedlings has slumped to record low, and is estimated to be only around 16 percent of the normal area under paddy cultivation. Paddy has been planted only in about 35,000 hectares of area during this summer so far. This situation has given rise to worry about the chances of the state having to rely on other states for its requirement of rice.

The estimate for the current summer season for paddy cultivation was 2.30 lac hectares in Karnataka. But till now, paddy seedlings have been transplanted only in 35,656 hectares. In normal course, 74 percent of paddy should have been planted by February second week but only 16 percent of this has been planted now. The department of agriculture says that planting of paddy for this season will come to a close by the end of this month.

Ration rice

During the summer (Rabi) season, rice is mainly grown in areas where irrigation facility is available. Districts which grow paddy during summer are Shivamogga, Uttara Kannada, Yadagiri, Mysuru, Belagavi, Haveri, Gadag, Dharwad, Raichur, Hassan, Ballari and Davanagere. It would be unrealistic to expect over two lac hectares of area to be brought under paddy cultivation within the next ten days or so.

If the seeds are sown in March, there are chances of the seedlings getting damaged by pre-monsoon rains which might appear by April or May. This calculation by agricultural experts has given rise to concern among the farmers as rice happens to be the staple food for most of Karnataka.

There is complaint that enough water is not being released for paddy cultivation during summer months even though Tungabhadra, Kabini, KRS and other dams hold enough water this time. The department of agriculture says that water from these dams is released once in two weeks, which the farmers say is insufficient. Therefore, planting of paddy has suffered a lot.

Rice is grown in two seasons every year. But this time, both the seasons have proved to be devastating for the paddy farmers. Due to excessive rainfall in most of the districts, the Kharif season crop was washed away. The farmers had planted paddy in lacs of hectares of land then but about one lac hectares of paddy crop was destroyed due to floods.

Because of heavy rains, water reservoirs are full. The farmers had hoped that they can grow paddy well this season but their hopes have been dashed as the government does not provide enough water for agriculture as they argue that the water is needed for drinking purpose during peak summer months. Therefore, the paddy crop this year has become a heavily losing proposition with far-reaching affect not only the farmers but also the consumers who may have to make arrangements to foot escalating food bills.