Community nurseries likely solution for paddy farmers if rains are delayed

KOLKATA: Paddy farmers in the country may have to opt for community nurseries and direct seeding in case of insufficient rains by June 15, said Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI).

Monsoon rains, which started a little late in Kerala on June 5, are yet to arrive in eastern India, the main area for rice cultivation. To review the crop situation, a team from the agriculture ministry will meet agricultural department officials of the seven eastern states that come under the Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India (BGREI) scheme on June 11 to prepare a contingency plan if rains are delayed or insufficient for preparing paddy nurseries and transplantation of saplings.

West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Odisha, Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh come under the BGREI scheme, under which they produce an average 55 million tonne, or over half the rice produced in the country. The average was 42.6 million tonne before the scheme was introduced.

“It is true that monsoon has been delayed this time, raising concerns among the farming community.But the situation can improve any moment if rains lash the paddy-growing regions of the country that are particularly rain-fed,” said Trilochan Mohapatra, director, CRRI.

“For instance, in places like Punjab and Haryana, farmers have started preparing nurseries as they generally depend on irrigation for farming purpose.” According to Mohapatra, farmers start preparing paddy nurseries from the end of May and the exercise continues till middle of June.

Transplantation of saplings starts from the first week of July. But this may not be so this year, as most parts of the paddy-growing areas have not received good rains.

“That is why we are asking farmers to prepare community nurseries rather than going in for individual nurseries that will require more water. If there are some irrigation facilities available, they should join their hands and raise nurseries there,” he said. Mohapatra suggested “direct seeding”, which requires less water. Directly seeded paddy tends to mature faster than transplanted crop. In this method, plants are not subjected to stress.