Farmers shun summer paddy, Chhattisgarh government misses rabi target

Chhattisgarh government’s campaign to prevent farmers from taking rabi paddy crop has resulted in missing the target set for the season.

The state government had set a target to take rabi crops in 1.85 million hectares of area in the current season. “The sowing of rabi crops could be completed in 1.56 million hectares of area, which is about 84 per cent of the target,” a state government spokesperson said.

The reluctance of farmers to take paddy crop during rabi season 2018 following state government’s “ban” is cited as the reason for missing the target. Though the Chhattisgarh government did not official imposed ban, the chief secretary wrote letter to the divisional commissioners asking to discourage summer paddy due to shortage of water.

The scanty rains last year had plunged a major portion of Chhattisgarh into drought. The state government had officially announced 96 tehsils of state’s 149 as drought-hit. The officials clarified that the available water was reserved for portable and other essential utilities, and hence could not be provided for rabi crops.

Following the development, the sowing target for the rabi 2018 could not be achieved. The summer paddy, known for giving better yield and insect resistance quality, is normally shown in 200,000 hectares of area. This year, sowing could be completed only in 46,000 hectares of area.

This decision to ban the cultivation of summer crop had caused despair among the farmers. They were expecting to compensate the loss incurred in the kharif season because of drought.