Berhampur: The gods of nature, it seems, are terribly angry with Orissa. While the north and central parts of the state are suffering from devastating floods, Ganjam, a southern district, is inching towards drought.
Agriculture officials said paddy crops in around 12,000 hectares of land in the district were already suffering from moisture stress condition due to no rainfall since September 23 last. Besides, paddy cultivation could not be started in around 13,000 hectare owing to erratic rainfall, sources said.
The district had a target to cultivate paddy and non-paddy crops in 2.23 lakh and 1.88 lakh hectares of land respectively during the kharif seasons. The district administration has estimated more than 50 per cent crop loss in 1056 villages of 15 blocks. Agriculture officials, however, said the situation improved with some rainfall in the first week of September. The situation, however, worsened due to lack of rain since September 23.
"The situation is very precarious," Ganjam collector Krishan Kumar said. "We have been monitoring the situation daily," he added. He asked agriculture and irrigation officials to make combined efforts to save the crops.
Against the districtas average paddy productivity of 30.65 quintal per hectare, the district targeted 38.50 quintal this year. "It is unlikely that the target productivity would be achieved as rain continues to play hide and seek," said deputy director of agriculture (Ganjam) Aparti Sethi.
Source: Times of India
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