Under dry sky,Charotar farmers opt for alternative crops

Lalbhai Patel,who owns 60 bighas of land in Mahemdabad taluka of Kheda district,says,“Farmers here are dependent on monsoon for paddy cultivation. The crop consumes a lot of water,and the delayed monsoon has hit the farmers hard. No body is

taking a risk to cultivate paddy this time.”

The situation has forced the farmers to look for alternative crops which are less water-intensive. Sombhai Patel,who owns around 250 bighas of agriculture land,says: “I have six bore wells surrounding my farm. Therefore,I have taken the risk of cultivating paddy this year. Small and medium farmers who depend only on the monsoon have nothing to cultivate. They are now taking up cultivation of fodder. But even that will take a lot of time to grow and therefore the situation is bad.”

The farmers allege that water in the canal has been diverted to the Saurashtra region and they have nothing but the wells for irrigation of paddy and millet. “The entire water in the canal has been diverted,while Anand and Kheda are not getting water. Eighty per cent of the people cultivate paddy in Kheda district while 20 per cent millet,fodder and other crops,” said another farmer.

Kheda District Collector Mohammed Shahid said,“It is a matter of concern that the sowing of paddy is getting delayed because of rains. We are tying up with the agriculture department to come up with advise on alternative crops,as paddy is very water intensive.”

This year,till July 8,the state has recorded 75 per cent deficit rainfall. Compared to 2007 and 2008,the rains in 2009 have been negligible. In 2008,Anand received 101 mm and Kheda 82 mm rainfall,while in 2007,the figures were 318 mm and 287 mm respectively.

The only option now with the farmer is to get water from the irrigation canal. However,even that alternative seems to have gone. Asked about the water from the canal,the Kheda collector said,“Unless you have water in the dams you cannot release water in the canal. The rainfall has not been good in Rajasthan as well. We get the Rajasthan water in Kadana dam also.”

The Anand district collector has decided to wait till July 31. “The Agriculture department is planning to provide water for 4,000 hectare of land if there is no rain till July 31,” said Collector R N Joshi.