PANAJI
For the first time in decades, paddy cultivators have had to resort to irrigating their kharif crop, thanks to an acute deficit in rainfall coupled with the intense heat beating down.
Some farmers who are equipped with pumps have already begun irrigating their fields to make up for deficit rainfall, according to the Director of Agriculture, Nelson Figueiredo.
Figueiredo, who has been personally inspecting some fields, said irrigation could help but added that farmers could face losses of around 15 to 20 per cent for paddy crops if the dry spell continues this month. “No farmer has yet approached the department with complaints due to the rainfall deficit,” he said, adding that a couple of showers would suffice to rejuvenate the standing crops.
“Even a shower or two would make a difference, as it would make the ground moist,” said Figueiredo, who said the dryness has caused the clay to crack in several places.
Right now the crops are in the ‘heading’ stage - the stage where the heads come up. Heading is a critical time for crops. Wherever rainfall has been delayed, Figueiredo informed that the heads had not yet come out.
“Wherever heads have come out, they are still straight, they have not yet bent, which means that water is required,” he said.
Figueiredo was hopeful, however, that with the overcast skies over the past two days, rain would soon be on its way.
