To rice and shine,Assam draws 8-point strategy

We drew up an eight-point strategy to make up for the losses caused by the floods,and the focus was immediately shifted to sali paddy,which will be ready for harvest this winter, said Brahma.

The eight-point strategy included a systematic rice intensification SRI campaign,large-scale adoption of hybrid as well as high-yielding varieties,increasing availability of quality seeds,better soil health management,prophylactic plant protection measures,ensuring procurement by FCI,and release of KCC at a wider scale.

Now last month,over 18 lakh hectares of sali paddy plantation was completed across the state. While this will be ready

for harvest by October-end,the next round of summer paddy boro could be planted by November.

However,when the sali crop began gaining height,there came another bad news about 45,000 hectares of crop came under sporadic attack of pests. We mainly detected four major pests,these being case worm,leaf folder,hispa and stem borer. But the department promptly provided Rs 4 lakh to each district in order to help the farmers control the pests by spraying pesticides. The situation is now under control, said Pankajnabha Das,an official in the state agriculture department.

With the state government ensuring purchase of rice by the Food Corporation of India FCI,farmers have also started getting an assured market for their excess produce. Last year,the FCI purchased 12,300 metric tonnes of rice from Assam farmers. This has also helped them get better price, said Brahma. Moreover,more and more farmers are also taking loans through Kisan Credit Cards in the past few years,she added.

With the rainy season gradually getting over,we are expecting a bumper yield of the sali crop later this year, Das added.

Interestingly,while early rains damaged about 60,000 hectares of boro crop,Assam as a whole has recorded a huge deficit in rainfall. During May-June,the deficit was to the tune of about 22 per cent than normal.

In July-August,the situation has slightly improved with the deficit slipping to about 14 per cent. Nature seems to be becoming kind to us,and the farmers are happy that there is no excess water in the fields, added minister Brahma.

Self-sufficient state

Assam,which had remained a rice-deficit state for the past four decades,became self-sufficient for the first time during 2000-01. That was the year when the state government launched a vigorous campaign to install shallow tube wells in areas where the winter crop used to suffer due to shortage of water. But,though the state during 2000-01 registered a record 39.98 lakh metric tonne rice output and made Assam self-sufficient in rice for the first time,the rice production subsequently fluctuated,coming down to an alarmingly low 29.16 lakh metric tonnes during 2006-07.