Tripura may face shortage of foodgrain due to less rainfall: Agriculture minister

Roy added his department is aiming to achieve 10,000 MT additional crop production from 20,000 hectare land through Integrated Crop Management.

The minister said the amon sowing season is still on and while the government hopes the Integrated Crop Management would be sufficient to bridge the gap of foodgrain shortage, the exact picture will be clear after the first assessment of crop estimates arrive in October this year. Aaush and amon are local paddy cropping seasons.

Since farmers face difficulties in aaush cultivation due to lack of rains, the government has decided to provide an assistance of Rs 3,918 per hectare to the farmers during the amon crop.

The benefit would be available for farmers who sow young paddy plants in rows, deweed the fields twice and use prescribed quantities of urea fertiliser.

As per department estimates, 1.48 lakh hectare land is under amon crop cover in the state. Roughly 26 per cent of the state’s geographical area is under agriculture cover, including paddy, vegetables and others.

Roy said since BJP came to power in Tripura in 2018, the state worked to become self-sufficient in agriculture and augmented farmer’s income. “Farmers had an average monthly income of Rs 6,580 in 2015-16 which now stands at Rs 11,096. We are now working to further augment it to Rs 13,590 by 2022-23,” he said.

Citing work in providing benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, Kisan Credit Card and procuring paddy directly from farmers with Minimum Support Price (MSP), the agriculture minister Wednesday said the farmers are happy with the agricultural policies of the Centre and the arrangements made by the state government.

Roy also said subsidies provided to the farmers for buying agricultural equipment from the state government has grown by 41 per cent since 2017-18. In an effort to provide technical support to the farmers, the government has also set up 341 farm machinery banks with over 26,000 equipment, which are benefitting the unemployed youths of the state.

Apart from the damages sustained by the farmers due to less rainfall this year, the government has sanctioned Rs 7.4 crore compensation for farmers who sustained losses in the winter showers in December last year.

On a different front, the agriculture department is undertaking an ambitious plan of using drones for precision farming on a pilot basis. Under this initiative, drones would be used to identify area-wise crop species, calculate exact requirements of seeds, fertiliser, pesticides and insecticides, soil humidity, irrigation needs and to provide early warnings of disease and pest attacks. Around one to two drones are likely to be used on a pilot basis in this financial year itself, the Agriculture Director said, adding that experts from different Krishi Vigyan Kendras operating in the state are being trained on drone technology.