Bhojpur faces bleak Kharif crop prospect

Kumar Rajiv Nayan

Ara: Two parts of Bhojpur district are facing same Kharif crop prospect but for differnt reasons. Standing seedlings in Northen part of the district have started withering in absence of rains while in the Southern part of the district crops were destroyed in recent flood.

Seedlings need good amount of water for their transplantation. But, due to scanty rather no rainfall and also in absence of proper irrigation facilities, the farmers of Bhojpur district are depending on rains for good paddy crops. Farmers have little hope from the defunct state tubewells.The spectre of drought looms large over Northen part of Bhojpur district. District Agriculture Officer (DAO), Bhojpur, Sanjay Kumar Tiwari said good rainfall is necessary for better prospect of the paddy crops and if the dry spell continues even for a week, it would cause extensive damage to the seedlings.

The DAO said Bhojpur received only 78mm rainfall in August which is 72.62% less than normal rainfall. He said canals irrigated at least two third of area but they are in dilapidated condition and water could not reach the tailend. Only 20% transplantation work had been completed so far. The transplantation of paddy seedlings could not be started in many parts of district in the absence of rain. Release of water from the Indrapuri Barrage recently has inundated the fields destroying the seedlings. He said late variety of paddy (MTV-7029) is preferred because that could be re-transplanted if any problem occurrs and it also gives good yield.

The farmers said some of them transplanted the seedlings using generator sets with the hope that the administration would provide some help. They said almost all the government handpumps were out of order and the canals were dry.

At present only 130 out of 500 state tubewells are in working condition. Several tubewells have been non-functional due to burnt transformers. Lack of coordination among the officials concerned of the agriculture department and energy departments is stated to be the reason behind the delay in repair of tubewells. Whatever little seedlings the farmers have been able to save so far seem to be withering for want of adequate supply of power in eight blocks in Bhojpur district while six blocks were inundated by flood water causing damage to the standing crops.