West Bengal expects a normal paddy crop in kharif season

the state produces about 14.5 mn tonne of rice every year in three seasons

With the southwest monsoon arriving on time, West Bengal expects a normal paddy crop during this kharif season. The state produces about 14.5 million tonnes (mt) of rice every year. The kharif paddy output accounts for about 70 per cent of paddy production in the state.

This year, paddy seeds are expected to be sown over 4.2-4.5 million hectares, according to Pranab Chatterjee, professor at Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya (BCKV). In the 2013-14 kharif season, the state has set a target 1.1 mt of rice over 4.2 million hectares. “We expect a good paddy crop this year, as the climatic conditions are favourable,” he said. However, a delay in the arrival of seeds from states like Andhra Pradesh could push the start of the sowing season by a week, said Debojyoti Guha of Seedsman Association of Bengal.

During the boro season, which ends just before the monsoon, the paddy sowing area had almost halved to 6-7 lakh hectares. However, due to higher productivity, the rice output has been close to 4.5-5 mt, said Chatterjee.

Last year, in spite of a delayed monsoon, the price of paddy crashed due to excess, but low quality production. The crash was on account of higher production in the boro season, which discouraged the farmers to sow paddy seeds during kharif season. West Bengal contributes 14-16 per cent of India's rice production.

In 2012, more than 30 farmers in the state had committed suicide due to the price crash in the boro season and the ensuing high unsold stocks in the kharif season. Poor storage facilities and higher rainfall in the later part of the kharif season had further added to the woes of the farmers.

In 2011-12, the state had produced 15 million tonnes of rice, almost 15 per cent more than the previous year. According to the revised estimates for 2012-13, West Bengal produced 10.9 mt of paddy in the kharif season, and 4.4 mt in the boro season.