Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, Aug 10: Goa's rice production has taken a hit for the second consecutive year, despite a concerted push by the Agriculture Department to expand paddy cultivation using high-yield varieties, data presented in the recent monsoon session of the Legislative Assembly has revealed.

In 2024-25, the state produced only 1.1 lakh tonnes of paddy, a significant drop from 1.4 lakh tonnes the previous year, even though more land was brought under cultivation during both kharif and rabi seasons.

Agriculture Minister Ravi Naik, responding to a query from Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai, said the drop was mainly due to extreme weather events, particularly flooding in July-August 2024, which wiped out crops in low-lying areas. In many cases, farmers lost 100% of their yield.

The average kharif yield dropped from 4.33 tonnes per hectare in 2023-24 to 3.25 tonnes in 2024-25. Similarly, rabi yield declined from 4.47 to 4.24 tonnes per hectare.

Naik attributed the losses to a combination of heatwaves, unseasonal rainfall, and flooding, which damaged crops at both transplanting and maturity stages. Other crops like vegetables and cashew also suffered.

No special study has been conducted by the department to investigate the causes of declining yields since 2022, Naik confirmed in his reply. However, he pointed out that the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) crop insurance scheme remains available for farmers affected by such extreme weather events — though notably, it excludes sugarcane and paddy.

Despite efforts to modernize and intensify farming, Goa’s paddy sector continues to struggle against the growing unpredictability of the climate.