PANAJI
Farmers across Goa will be grappling with the prospects of uncertainty over how good or bad the upcoming rabi season will be on the back of the unseasonal rains which disrupted the kharif paddy harvest, leading to significant losses.
Now, these prolonged rains -- stretching nearly a month beyond the monsoon’s withdrawal -- have delayed preparations for the rabi season, raising fresh worries about farm incomes and livelihoods for Goa's farming community.
According to data from the Directorate of Agriculture, the State typically records around 8,000-9,000 hectares cultivated under rabi crops annually, with pulses, vegetables, and oilseeds forming the bulk of the sowing.
In the 2022“23 season, rabi pulses such as moong and gram accounted for nearly 3,500 hectares, while oilseeds like mustard and sunflower covered about 2,000 hectares. Vegetables, which are crucial for local consumption, cornered close to 4,000 hectares.
Production figures have generally been stable, with yields averaging 1.2“1.5 tonnes per hectare for pulses and 1.8 tonnes per hectare for oilseeds.
This year, however, the delayed onset of the rabi season threatens to compress the sowing window.
Farmers usually begin land preparation by late October, but waterlogged fields have prevented timely sowing.
Agricultural officials said, if sowing is pushed further into December, crops may face heat stress during the harvest months of March and April.
“The timing is critical. A shorter growing period could reduce yields by 15“20 percent,” an official from the department said.
The situation is particularly worrying for vegetable growers, who rely on quick crop cycles to meet market demand and increasing earnings.
Meanwhile, although the department has announced compensation under an existing scheme of Rs 40,000 per hectare for crop losses due to the harvest-time rains, cultivators argue that the payout falls short of covering their actual losses.
Farmers’ associations have urged the government to consider enhanced compensation packages and provide input subsidies for seeds and fertilizers to offset the impact.
Despite the grim outlook, meanwhile, Agriculture department officials remain cautiously optimistic and are advising farmers to adopt short-duration crop varieties and staggered sowing to mitigate risks.
Extension officers are also promoting water management practices to drain excess moisture from fields.
As Goa’s farmers brace for a difficult Rabi season, the episode underscores the vulnerability of agriculture to climate extremes.
With back-to-back challenges -- first in paddy harvesting and now in rabi sowing -- the State’s farming community is looking to policymakers and the government for stronger support mechanisms to safeguard their livelihoods.
