Bihar: Delayed monsoon, severe heatwave affects paddy seedlings transplantation

The prolonged severe heat wave coupled with delayed monsoon rains in Bihar has severally affected the sowing of paddy seedlings with just 31% of overall transplantation done so far across nine divisions, officials of the state agriculture department said. The total coverage area of paddy cultivation in the state is around 35 lakh hectares.

Bihar has recorded 81% deficient rainfall this month having recorded only 14.4 mm of rainfall as against normal rain of 81.5 mm from 1 June to 20 June, as per official data.

The sowing of paddy seedlings begins on June 15 or before and gets intensified once the monsoon hits which goes on till the end of June and in some places, the first week of July. “This week is critical for sowing of paddy seedlings. If there is not adequate rain or the monsoon is further delayed, there will be low coverage and damage to seedlings,” said an agriculture officer.

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According to the latest data from the department, the coverage of paddy seedlings stood at an overall average of 31% in nine divisions with Purnea recording 53%, Patna, 30%, Tirhut 48%, Saharsha 37%, Darbhanga 32%, Magadh 6%, Munger 3%, Saran 29% and Bhagalpur 1%.

Officials said the coverage of seedlings now hinges on monsoon rains this week as otherwise, it will lower compared to last year. In 2022, the paddy seedling coverage stood at 97% in districts as against the targeted area.

“By this time, we kept a target of achieving an average coverage of over 50% in the targeted cultivable area for paddy seedlings. But in the last one week, the sowing has been slow with farmers apprehensive of sowing seedlings because of damage due to lack of enough water in fields,” said another agriculture officer.

In June 2022, Bihar witnessed 172.3 mm of rainfall as against the normal rainfall of 163.3 mm.

In 2021, the state received normal rains recording 1,025 mm of rainfall as against normal rains of 977.4 mm from June 1st to 24 September, as per IMD figures.

In 2020, the rainfall was normal with the state experiencing 1,090 mm of rainfall as against normal expected rainfall of 958.8 mm in the rainy season.

The Kharif crop in the last few years in Bihar has been impacted due to deficient rains. Last year, the production of rice stood at 76.55 lakh metric tons whereas, in 2021-22, it was 77.17 lakh metric tons. In 2019, the rice production was 69 lakh metric tons while in 2020, it was 73.92 lakh metric tons.

Evidently, this year’s Kharif crop especially paddy production, one of the main conventional crops in Bihar, hinges on the volume of monsoon rains. “We are keeping our fingers crossed. If there is less rain, the production of paddy will be low as the crop requires a high volume of water during the transplantation stage,” said another agriculture official.

Also Read: Slack monsoon slows planting of summer crops paddy, pulses, oilseeds

While the state has been reeling under a severe heat wave for over one week, IMD officials have predicted that there will be rains this week with the monsoon likely to hit the state from this week.

“There is an expectation that monsoon will hit the state in one or two days,” said Prabhu, joint director, Bihar Mausam Sewa Kendra.

Meanwhile, the state agriculture department has started preparing for rolling out a contingency crop plan in case there is deficient rains in July with the department already distributing seeds to farmers for alternative crops.

Agriculture director Alok Ranjan Ghosh said the state government has a plan ready for rolling out diesel subsidy during the sowing of seedlings as well as a ‘continency crop plan’ in case there is deficient rains, crop damages for long dry spells in the rainy season, and damages due to squalls.

“There is a prediction that monsoon rains will take in the next 2-3 days. If there is delayed monsoon or deficient rains in the coming weeks, a decision at the highest level will be taken on rolling out diesel subsidies to farmers for the sowing of seedlings and irrigation facilities. Besides, we also have a contingency crop plan ready,” Ghosh said.