PANAJI:
The pre-monsoon rain after the extreme summer and heat wave conditions of the last couple of months has alerted Goa's farming community into preparing their paddy fields for the Kharif sowing season.
Unlike last year when a delayed monsoon had left them uncertain over timing their sowing operations, farmers this year are ready to begin work in their fields especially after the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted an early start with rains expected to hit Kerala on May 27 and Goa about 4-5 days later.
Farmers who cultivate the State's vast expanses of low-lying khazan lands are entirely dependent on the timing of the monsoon to take a call on when to begin their sowing operations.
Traditionally, farmers in Goa sow paddy early and when the monsoon actually hits and the Khazans are mildly flooded, the transplanting operations commence.
Zonal agricultural officers (ZAO) and their support staff usually hand-hold the paddy farmers with crucial information in their respective jurisdiction. According to some of the ZAOs The Goan spoke to, farmers are increasingly switching over to the mechanised transplanting method.
"It helps farmers to cut down on labour costs which used to be a huge burden and affected profitability of paddy cultivation," said Director of Agriculture, Sandeep Fol Desai.
Costs of mechanised sowing and transplantation are almost fully subsidised by the Agriculture department. Booking of mechanical equipment for paddy cultivation through approved service providers has already begun.
Within the next fortnight or so activity like ploughing of fields is expected to begin especially in the low-lying fields and khazans across the State, he added.
Meanwhile, erratic weather linked to global climate change phenomena continue to be a worrisome factor for Goa's farmers. Untimely excessive rains which tend to flood the low-lying khazan fields especially when flowering takes place often ruin the paddy cultivation completely. Last year, the government spent around Rs 3.5 crore compensating farmers for losses due to excessive rains and flooding.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a UN panel tasked with assessing latest global climate science, said crop yields for rice could be poorer as could be the case with other grains like wheat.
Hotter and more frequent heatwaves, which it attributes to 'climate change', impedes plant growth, IPCC has stated.
