Sambalpur: Despite suffering losses owing to unseasonal rain, hailstorm and lockdown restrictions, farmers in Sambalpur district have once again started preparing their lands for kharif crops.
With the weather department predicting the monsoon to arrive by mid-June, farmers have started sowing paddy. Several parts of the district are receiving unseasonal rainfall which is good for sowing and encouraging farmers of Jujumura, Redhakhol, Naktideula, Jamankira and Kuchinda areas.
According to chief district agriculture officer Santosh Kumar Ray, once monsoon rain starts, farmers cannot go for direct sowing. So this is the perfect time for this. The sown seeds need proper temperature and rain to germinate.
The farmers are having another opportunity at this point in time. They can now grow Dhanicha (Sesbania aculeata). Dhanicha is generally grown as green manuring crop. If now sown, they will die in a month’s time. The dead plants work as manure and help improve the fertility of the soil. The farmers can sow paddy in the same field a month later.
For an acre of land, they can sow ten kilograms of Dhanicha seeds. It sells at Rs 35 to 40 a kilogram. It will be small price to pay to have a bumper harvest, Ray said.
For Kharif season, a target has been set to bring a total of 1.06 thousand hectares of land under paddy cultivation. Of them, direct sowing is done in 20, 000 hectares.
In the irrigated areas, though the water in canals has not been released, farmers have already prepared beds for transplanting paddy seeds. It is expected that water will be released in canals after June 10. That’s when the agricultural work is expected to gather pace in these areas. A
According to the weather department, there will be normal rainfall this year. So there should be no question of occurrence of any adverse situations such as drought and sprouting death, added Ray.
PNN
