Foodgrain production may fall short of target in state

Two contrasting weather conditions-devastating floods in certain districts and drought like situation in some others-have raised the fear of shortfall in food grain production in the state this year.

The state had set a target to produce around 9.5 million tonnes of food grains during the current agriculture year which is about 0.7 million tonnes more than the production achieved in the previous year. In 2010-11, the food grain production stood at 8.79 million tonnes. This included both the agriculture seasons-Kharif and Rabi.

The food grains production in 2009-10 and 2008-09 in the state was 8.70 million tonnes and 8.63 million tonnes respectively. “This year the production of food grins is expected to reduce due to the loss of kharif crops as the state grappled with the flood and drought,” said a senior agriculture officer.

The state government has already announced a package of Rs 4,000 per hectare of irrigated land for small and marginal farmers hit by drought in 17 districts triggered by scanty and erratic rainfall.

For non-irrigated land, the compensation for the affected farmers has been fixed at Rs 2,000 per hectare as agriculture input subsidy. In case of farmers who raise crops throughout the year, the assistance has been pegged at Rs 6,000 per hectare. This drought assistance for small and marginal farmers is available for a maximum of one hectare of land. The assistance is meant for actual cultivators, said minister for revenue and disaster management S N Patro. The state government has decided to convert short-term loans taken by the farmers for the kharif agriculture season into medium-term loans. The interest of the loan would be continued at three per cent for those who repay their amount on time. The state government had earmarked Rs 200-crore for providing such benefits.

The farmers will also be given a waiver of 50 per cent on water cess. The 17 districts affected by drought include Angul, Bargarh, Bhadrak, Bolangir, Boudh, Cuttack, Deogarh, Ganjam, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Nayagarh, Nuapada, Sonepur and Gajapati. The Centre was yet to release funds to the state from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for the ongoing relief and restoration activities in the flood-hit areas. It may be noted that the government had submitted two memoranda seeking Central assistance of Rs 3,265 crore for twin spells of floods that hit 21 districts.