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| 'Scattered' rainfall creates anxious moments for Rabi crops |
| Vikas Sharma / New Delhi/ Chandigarh Jan 04, 2010, 00:47 IST |
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Scattered rainfall in Haryana during this winter has raised apprehensions of a poor Rabi crop in the state if the situation continues.
Earlier, the delayed monsoon impacted the sowing of kharif crop especially paddy in Haryana that was sown in an area around 11.52 lakh hectares in 2009 , compared to 2008 when paddy was sown in area over 12.10 lakh hectare. Although the state managed to attain surplus paddy production despite area coming down, the cost of production went up for the farmers who had to rely on artificial irrigation.
According to agriculture experts, the scattered rainfall during the last few months could not only impact the area under Rabi crops but also affect its productivity.
Additional director of agriculture (Haryana), B S Duggal, said less showers in the month of December might impact the productivity of Rabi crops and the situation could worsen if the dry condition continued in January. He added the prolonged dry spell could have impact on the productivity of Rabi crops as well
According to agriculture department officials till now wheat has been sown in area over 2.45million hectares this year compared to 2.46 million hectares last year. Similarly the other major Rabi crop this year has been sown in an area of 532,000 hectares as compared to 515,000 hectares last year.
Head of agriculture metrology department of the Hisar-based Chaudhri Charan Singh Agriculture University, Dewan Sing, maintained only scattered rainfall had been reported from different parts of Haryana in the last three months. He added that the scattered rainfall not only could affect the productivity of Rabi crops but also could result in increased cost for farmers. The scattered rainfall could again result in cost of production for wheat crops going up since farmers in absence of rain might be forced to look for alternative avenues for irrigation.
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