Rainfall scanty in most dists,paddy crop under threat

Data available with the Met Department shows that only Shravasti district has recorded normal rainfall this season. In four districts — Kheri,Ghazipur,Azamgarh,Pratapgarh — it has been deficient,which means 60 to 80 per cent of the normal rainfall. Six districts have recorded highly deficient rainfall,which is 40 to 60 per cent of the normal.

In the remaining 61districts,rainfall has been scanty. Of them,33 have received less than 10 per cent of the normal rainfall. Among the worst hit are Lucknow,which has received only 2 millimetre rainfall,Rae Bareli (0.2 mm),Meerut (0.4 mm) and Agra (3.8 mm).

Overall,eastern UP has received 25.9 mm rainfall,which is 69 per cent less than the normal 82.4 mm,while western UP has fared even worse with only 6.8 mm rainfall so far,a staggering 87 per cent less than the average of 52 mm for the period.

At the all-India level,108.1 millimetre of rainfall has been received — 23 per cent less than the average for the period.

In Uttar Pradesh,92 per cent farmers are small and marginal,and they depend heavily on rainfall. Delay in monsoon rain beyond the first week of July will have an adverse effect on the crop. Moreover,per hectare productivity — which jumped to 23.5 quintal per hectare last year after hovering between 18 and 21.8 for nearly a decade — might come down.

Already,the Union Agriculture Ministry has asked all states to adopt a contingency plan in case the rains do not improve by July 15.

Officials at the UP Agriculture Department said that they will arrange for seeds of coarse cereals such jowar,bajra,maize and pulses for sowing in case of a delay beyond July 15. “If there is no rain even in August,we will provide oilseeds,” Agriculture Director Mukesh Gautam said.

Last year,a good monsoon led to a bumper rice crop,which had prompted the government to lift a four-year ban on export of non-basmati rice. Rice production had jumped last year to 139 lakh metric tonnes from 119 lakh metric tonnes in 2010.