West Bengal has witnessed a peculiar climate change effect this year, with non-traditional rainfall patterns observed in the granary regions of the state.
Firstly during June and July this year, considered the peak season for sowing of Aus and Aman paddy, the granary areas in South Bengal in particular witnessed heavy rainfall deficient. Then there were exceptionally high autumn rains in late September and October.
These two vagaries of nature have affected the paddy production in a big way in the state causing distress to the farmers.
According to the records of the weather office in Kolkata, the rainfall deficit in Gangetic West Bengal in June this year was 48 per cent. In July this year, there was a slight reduction in the rainfall deficit in the region, but it remained around 46 per cent.
According to records, this was the worst rainfall deficiency in Gangetic West Bengal since 2010. However, as per the records, in 2010 also the rainfall deficiency in the region was within 40 per cent.
How has this acute shortage of rainfall affected the cultivation of Aus and Aman paddy in the granary areas of the state? According to agriculture experts, this lack of rainfall first affected the major sowing period of Aus and Aman.
Aus variety of paddy is sown in summer with pre-monsoon rains and harvested in autumn. So the lack of rain in June affected sowing as the seed beds did not get the rain water needed for healthy yields.
In the case of Aman rice, the sowing season starts from mid-July and continues till the middle and end of August. Therefore, the deficit rainfall in July, which was around 46 per cent, also affected a major part of the sowing period of Aman.
Some statistics from the Agriculture Department show how the whims of nature affected the paddy production in the state. Till mid-July, out of the target of 52 lakh hectare, sowing of paddy was possible in only 2.08 lakh hectare.
Out of 2.08 lakh hectares of land, 1.1 lakh hectares is possible to sow average paddy, which is putting a question mark on the production of this particular variety of paddy in the current cultivation season. Aman paddy could be sown in 97,000 hectares in the same period.
The worst affected was the East Burdwan district of South Bengal, which is considered the granary of West Bengal. In this district, sowing of Aman paddy was possible in only 3,280 hectares, while the sowing of Aus paddy was only 1,697 hectares till mid-July.
However, in the case of Aman Paddy, the rain deficit was largely compensated by the rains in August. When ample August rainfall was raising the hopes of the farming community, September and October saw extreme autumn rainfall. The excess was measured at about 10 percent.
Agricultural experts and officers of all India Kisan Sabhas such as Hannan Mollah and Samar Ghosh feel that the double blow – first in the form of lack of rain in June and July and then excessive autumn rains in September and October – caused farmers to lose a substantial part of their produce.
According to him, when rainfall was most needed during June and July for effective sowing and replanting, the deficiency acted as a hindrance. Then in September and October, when crops were ready to seed, more autumn rains caused damage.
According to economics professor PK Mukhopadhyay, the effect of these fluctuations of nature can be felt in two ways. “Earlier there was an inevitable rise in the price of rice in the open market, which has already hardened by five percentage points. The second impact was on the livelihood of the sharecroppers, many of whom are helpless in the face of such havoc of nature.”
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