MANISH GUPTA
Ranchi, Aug 13: Climate and agricultural scientists of Jharkhand suggest farmers of the state to accept the changing climate and be prepared with various options to cultivate their farmland as per the prevailing weather conditions here and now.
With rainfall becoming more erratic leading to drought in some places while flooding in some others and weak monsoon in the first two sowing months of June and July becoming more frequent, scientists recommend farmers to use short duration crop varieties.
“Paddy sowing period generally ends by July. This time with deficient rainfall farmers may go up till August 15 or a few days more. After that there has to be another plan,” said Dr S Karmakar, Director, Seed and Farm, Birsa Agricultural University (BAU).
This is the fourth time in the past 10 years that the state has witnessed weak monsoon in June and July. Rainfall in August and September may pick up, as witnessed in the past few days, resulting in “normal” rainfall but paddy farming has been affected.
“If water is enough in the fields in the next few days and sapling is ready, then paddy can be sown. Slightly old rice seedlings of up to 30-40 days can also be used with closer spacing and more manure but after that farmers should cultivate another crop.
“They can go for urad, makai, sarguja and kulthi and even later toria oilseeds. Further, even if these cannot be sown, the farmers can cultivate fodder crops to avoid leaving the fields vacant and still ensure quality feed for their own cattle,” said Karmakar.
Rainfall deficiency in Jharkhand has come down from 50 per cent to 40 per cent in the past fortnight. However, 10 of the 24 districts still have a deficiency of more than 50 per cent. And, paddy sowing in Jharkhand is 25 per cent of the year-ago period.
“We cannot delay the entire farming process to suit the timing of rainfall. The crops will go bad. Delay in Kharif and then late sowing and harvesting of Rabi is not possible as the heatwaves in April will impact the yield. We have to use short duration varieties of all crops that use less water to continue producing food for the people,” Karmakar said.
Farmlands in Jharkhand are of two types – Tanr land (upland) and Don land (medium and low land). They are further subdivided based on topography. While Tanr II and Don III lands are vulnerable to drought, they are good for short duration paddy varieties (80-90 days instead of 115-125 days) as the water dries up making way for harvesting.
Climate scientist Abhishek Anand, officer in-charge of India Meteorological Department (IMD) in Ranchi, too, recommends that the state farmers should prepare themselves for the uncertain climatic conditions and cultivate crops that grow fast with less water.
“This is not happening only in the last few years. Climate change has been happening for a long time. Average rainfall has come down from 1,054.7mm in 2010 to 1,032.6mm in 2020. Increasing population has put pressure for higher agricultural produce.
“More farming means more methane emission increasing greenhouse effect and global warming. This year India experienced the highest temperature in the last 122 years. The UK had its hottest temperature at 40 degrees Celsius and there is a fire raging in France.
“We have to find sustainable and environment-friendly ways of farming. Maybe crops that can be grown in two to three months with less water,” said Abhishek Anand.
The Krishi Gram Vikas Kendra (KGVK), a Ranchi-based NGO, has been spearheading the adoption of SRI Vidhi (System of Root Intensification process) among the farmers in the state for less consumption of water and better productivity in agriculture.
“We have been encouraging the use of SRI Vidhi for the last seven to eight years. SRI Vidhi is a process in which each seed is placed equidistance at 30cm and weeding is done three times by hand machine over a period of 50-60 days.
“This process does not require replanting of saplings as each sapling gets enough space and nutrients to grow. This way even if there is a dry spell of 10-15 days, the crops will survive with the moisture in soil and in air. Instead of half feet of water required in traditional rice farming, this way paddy can be grown in two to three inches of water,” said KGVK Secretary Dr Arvind Sahay, adding that SRI Vidhi can also be used for wheat and mustard.
