Monsoon woes: Paddy yield target to fall short by 20 lakh tonnes

From the amount of land cultivated so far,the state would yield around 86 lakh tonnes paddy,but with the rainfall being inadequate,the production is likely to drop by around 23 lakh tonnes. If the state receives normal rainfall,around 110 lakh tonnes of paddy is grown.

Till August 17,West Bengal received little more than 600 millimetres rainfall — 151 millimetres less than normal rainfall. The overall shortfall of rain has been estimated at 20 per cent with the deficiency in South Bengal districts,considered the rice bowl of West Bengal,being 29 per cent.

“Even if rain comes,not more than 1.5 lakh hectares more farmland will be cultivated in the next two weeks. If 1.5 lakh hectare land is brought under cultivation,the yield of Aman paddy will increase by a maximum of 3 lakh tonnes. So the total yield will be around 89 lakh tonnes,which means,the state will fail to meet the target production of 110 lakh tonnes,” said an agriculture expert.

“It is almost certain that the target area of cultivation will not be achieved under any circumstances. So a huge fall in Aman paddy production is most likely this year,” the expert added.

Cultivation of Boro crop,which largely depends on irrigation water,had suffered last year because of lack of irrigation water and soaring prices of fertilizers. The state’s annual domestic consumption of paddy is around 140 lakh tonnes. “If there is a failure of Aman paddy crop this year,we have to meet the shortfall by ensuring good yield during Boro season,” an agriculture department official said.

According to an agriculture department report,except Burdwan and Hooghly,Aman paddy cultivation is far less than the target level in all the south Bengal districts.