PATNA: Rainfall in different parts of the state over the past few days has provided some relief to the farmers who were worried about planting of paddy saplings and cultivation of other kharif (monsoon) crops, including maize and pulses.
As the monsoon rainfall in most districts had remained poor till June 27, large number of famers did not start the transplantation process and many had not even sown the seedlings. Paddy transplantation requires at least knee-deep water in agriculture fields.
As per data with state agriculture department, transplantation of paddy saplings has been done over the area of 1.86 lakh hectares in the state against the overall target of 35 lakh hectares till Saturday.
According to agriculture experts, good rainfall is required in July to ensure smooth growth of paddy saplings.
"The rainfall in July and August are most critical for cultivation and growth of kharif crops, especially paddy. The rainfall in Bihar over the last few days has been good, which supported the farmers in planting paddy saplings as well as those who were still to sow paddy seedlings in the nurseries. The distribution of rainfall should be good in July as well to allow farmers to undertake multiple farming activities," said Anil Kumar Jha, deputy director (agro), agriculture department.
India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted normal to below normal rainfall in Bihar this month. An official at Patna Meteorological Centre, however, said rainfall would be comparatively less in the state in the second week of July.
Sudhanshu Kumar, a progressive farmer from Samastipur district said the ongoing spell of rain has revived the hopes of paddy cultivation among farmers. "There was hardly any pre-monsoon rain in May, which led to reduction in moisture level in the soil. The rainfall remained mostly scanty in June as well, except last 2-3 days. Thus, it was high time for a good spell of monsoon rainfall and it has helped the farmers to expedite paddy cultivation," Suddhanshu said.
Prabhashankar Singh, a marginal farmer of Rahimpur village in Khagaria, said the farmers heaved a sigh of relief after monsoon's first break this week.
Paddy is cultivated in all 38 districts in Bihar, and there are only 23 districts where the annual yield of paddy is more than 1 lakh metric tonnes.
