M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, July 11: Palamu has recorded a little over 40 mm of rainfall in the first week of July which if compared to the last year for the same first week of July can be called a better average. Nevertheless, the fear of scarcity of rains grows high in this rain shadow district Palamu.
Palamu has a southwest monsoon and it appears weak till the time of filing of this report.
An official data of the rainfall of the Palamu district agricultural office here reads that Palamu had recorded a bare 10.99 mm of rainfall in the first week of July in the year 2021-22 which is 40.2 mm this year in the first week of July.
Much that Palamu has recorded 40.2mm of rainfall this first week of July, three of its 21 blocks Naudeeha Bazar block, Lesliganj, and Nawa Bazar are having acute shortage of rainfalls in this first week of July having rainfall of 8mm, 13.6mm and 14.6mm respectively.
There was no rainfall at all in the month of April here. Whereas May month in Palamu was most terrible in terms of the rains this year.
The district recorded only 13mm of rainfall while in the corresponding month of May last year this district had recorded more than 157.63 mm of rainfall read the official data of the agricultural office here.
There is an old saying here which goes so long maize is here hunger can be fought. But since rains are not around, so are not the maize. Maize is a staple diet here in rural Palamu and only 22 percent of the arable land here is having maize growing. Whenever Palamu has had a bout of near drought-like situation maize stands by the poor in times of crisis of food.
Paddy cultivation is directly related to the rains as right from its saplings down to the transplantation rains matter most but now there is a great unpredictability about the rainfall whether it will be normal, profuse, or scarce.
