Hope revives on paddy output

Foodgrain production may drop 5-8 mt compared to 2013, due to a fall in output of pulses & coarse cereals: Ministry official

Adequate rains in most parts of India and a revival in paddy sowing has sparked hope that the rice crop will be better than estimated this kharif season.

Across the country, the area under paddy is about 44 million hectares, with about 40 million hectares accounted for by kharif paddy. For 2013-14, the kharif paddy output stood at an estimated 92.78 million tonnes (mt).

Trilochan Mahapatra, director, Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, said the pace of paddy sowing had improved across Odisha, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Bihar. He added if the rains continued to be good, the paddy acreage target would be met. “The monsoon is late; this is July-end. But most farmers had sown seeds in nurseries, and only transplantation of paddy in fields remains to be carried out.”

A senior Union food ministry official said foodgrain production might drop five-eight mt compared to 2013, primarily due to a fall in the output of pulses and coarse cereals. He added the paddy crop wouldn’t be hit much, as in the North, irrigation and pump sets could help make good the loss. If post-harvest losses were controlled, the impact wouldn’t be much, he said.

“The long-duration paddy crop (non-basmati varieties) needs 140-150 days. Under the current circumstances, we might see a late harvest, but the crop size shouldn’t be affected. The situation will be more discernible after two weeks, when the sowing is complete. Any lag in the rainfall might effect sowing,” he said.

While paddy fields in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh are primarily irrigated and, therefore, aren’t substantially affected by delayed and deficient rains, paddy-growing areas in other parts of the country are hit by a below-average monsoon.

An official said though heavy rains in Saurashtra in Gujarat might have some adverse impact on the paddy crop, as states in western India didn’t contribute substantially to rice production, the situation wasn’t alarming.

Under the ‘Bring Green Revolution to Eastern India’ initiative, the Centre has made an annual allocation of Rs 1,000 crore to improve paddy production. The scheme covers Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, eastern Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Vijay Tayal, secretary-general, Chhattisgarh Rice Millers’ Association, said though paddy sowing in the East had been delayed by a month, the situation had improved. “There is no draught-like situation and paddy transplantation is on in full swing. The production might be close to that recorded last year if there monsoon rains are sufficient.”