the goan I network
PANAJI
The rains which hit Goa last week brought cheer to engineers and officials who were monitoring dwindling levels of water at the reservoirs but it failed to remove the creases from the foreheads of farmers preparing their fields for the Kharif crop.
After three days of rain brought in by the cyclonic winds of Vayu which kissed the coast as it whizzed past Goa, the subsequent dry spell has put those cultivating the below sea level expanses of khazan lands in a spot of bother.
Many who had already sown paddy seed, timed with a June 10 monsoon arrival forecast, are worried over the health of the saplings which will later be transplanted. And the news from the weatherman isn’t good either.
According to Indian Meteorological Department Director KV Padgalwar, the Vayu cyclone has contributed to delaying the arrival of the monsoon in Goa further.
Padgalwar said it is now estimated that the monsoon could now arrive in Goa on June 20 or later.
Some farmers, however, aren’t leaving it to the weather gods. The farmers club of St Estevam, which has taken on the challenge of scaling up the community farming experiment it launched last year to double the acreage from 50 to 100 hectares, has resorted to the use of sprinklers to ensure their paddy saplings are watered and stay healthy.
Ilha Verde Farmers Club headed by Nestor Rangel has erected dozens of sprinklers and is not relying on the arrival of monsoons which has been erratic thus far this year.
Farmers who cultivate smaller farm holdings in low-lying terrain however cannot afford to mechanically irrigate their sapling nurseries and have to rely on manual techniques to ensure they are hydrated.
The silver lining however is that unlike other parts of the country which have been acutely deficient in pre-monsoon rainfall, Goa has received 98 per-cent of the average it gets in this period.
But troubles for paddy farmers may double if forecasters’ warning that the monsoon this year will be below average comes true. It is crucial that it rains soon for farmers to launch the next stage of sowing operations -- pre-transplanting, ploughing and the transplanting itself.
Farmers cultivate paddy over nearly 40,000 hectares in the Kharif season mainly in low-lying khazan land, lateritic uplands called ‘morod’ and mid-lands ‘kher’ lands and timely rainfall and adequate quantity of it is crucial for good yields in all three.
TACKLING RAIN PAIN
Farmers club of St Estevam has resorted to use of sprinklers to ensure their paddy saplings are watered and stay healthy
The club headed by Nestor Rangel has erected dozens of sprinklers and is not relying on the arrival of monsoons
This year they have taken up the challenge of scaling up the community farming experiment -- launched last year -- to double the acreage from 50 to 100 hectares
THE FLIP SIDE...
Farmers who cultivate smaller areas in low-lying terrain however cannot afford to mechanically irrigate their sapling nurseries and rely on manual techniques
