Dry Hope ; Poor Rains Have Damaged the Summer Crop in Quantity and Quality. As the Monsoon Whimsy Continues, Some Intelligent Government Intervention Could Help Save the Winter Crop.
Business Today › September 02, 2009
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Summary
-- Siddharth Rai is not your usual Indian farmer. Educated and smart, he carries that tag of 'progressive farmer' in his native village of Bilaspur in the West Champaran district of Bihar. Like umpteen other farmers across India, Rai, too, has been caught in a dry spell this kharif (June-October) season. It promises to be a rough, rough year. Though Rai cultivates other crops, paddy is the mainstay of his work area spread over some 200 acres. "With almost 25-30 days of no rain, we estimate that the loss in yield will be over 50 per cent. To salvage the remaining crop as well we need rains for another month-and-a-half, says Rai.
-- Move a few hundred kilometers West to the Shahjahanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, another farmer, Shamsher Singh, too, is categorical that he has lost 20 per cent of his annual paddy production due to the deficient rains. "The lack of moisture in the fields may also reduce the size of the grain, ultimately leading to lower realisations, he grumbles. The minimum support price just does not work where he operates. In the meantime, in just keeping his crop alive, he is irrigating the fields through the diesel pump sets. That loads up the cost of production. On an average, using the pump set for a period of 8 hours costs Singh Rs 700-800. Lesser rain equals higher cost. Economics is simple enough for Singh.See the full content of this document
Extract
Dry Hope ; Poor Rains Have Damaged the Summer Crop in Quantity and Quality. As the Monsoon Whimsy Continues, Some Intelligent Government Intervention Could Help Save the Winter Crop.
-- In Andhra Pradesh's Warangal district, farmer Gurram Adi Reddy faces the prospect of losing his entire crop. He grows cotton, maize and paddy in this rain fed region. "I have almost lost my maize and paddy crop and my only hope now is the cotton crop, says Reddy as he watches the saplings go dry.
Similar grim s...See the full content of this document
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