Kharif Crops: West Bengal and Bihar Issues Advisories for Farmers

Due to insufficient rains for the transplantation of paddy saplings, West Bengal, the largest rice-producing state, and neighbouring Bihar have issued advisories on use of water for Kharif crops.

Paddy saplings are transplanted from the seedbed to the fields that must retain water for a few weeks for the plants to grow healthily.

The West Bengal government has increased irrigation to paddy fields, is restoring non-functional irrigation facilities, and enrolling farmers in crop insurance to ensure compensation to them if there is a crop failure.  Bengal's panchayats and rural development minister, Pradip Kumar Majumdar, said that farmers had been instructed to use as little water as possible to prevent water waste.

Bihar has encouraged its farmers to use irrigation for transplantation and granted a Rs 75 per litre diesel subsidy for running submersible pumps used to irrigate the Paddy fields. Additionally, the state government has urged farmers to grow alternate crops for which seeds would be provided by the government.

West Bengal produces 16 million tonnes of Kharif paddy over an area of 4.2–4.4 million hectares. The state's rice production is 15.57 mt.

According to Minister Majumdar, "Nearly 90% of irrigation systems that were not working because electricity bills were unpaid have become operational. To prevent water waste, we have instructed the farmers to irrigate with the least amount of water to Prevent Wastage. A high-level committee has been formed to tackle the situation. 2,500 shallow tube wells are working."

The minister said that India Meteorological Department had predicted heavy rainfall in the state. "If it occurs, then there will be no transplantation issues for the farmers,".

In the district, which is known as the state's rice bowl, 55 % of the paddy crop has not yet been planted, according to Subrata Mondol, general secretary of the Burdwan Rice Millers Association.

"Transplantation can be stretched to August 15 if it rains, though there will be some crop loss,".

A serious lack of rainfall has been seen in several districts with a high concentration of agricultural land, including Nadia, Hooghly, East Burdwan, Murshidabad, and Birbhum.