Paddy yield likely to fall by 20% in Krishna dist

Vijayawada: Deficiency in rainfall, excavation of fishing ponds and excessive urbanisation (real estate) are resulting in declining paddy yield this kharif season in Krishna district.

According to the GOAP Season and Crop Coverage Report and agricultural officers, around 20 per cent of cultivation was reduced in the district in the Kharif season compared to the previous years.

Consequently, around 2 lakh tons of paddy produce which can cater to lakhs of people’s food needs is going to be decreased. Krishna district is one of the finest districts in terms of producing a large quantity of food grains, mainly paddy across the state.

However, due to adverse situations, the cultivation of paddy has been dwindling for the past few years in the district.

The paddy crop is cultivated to the extent of over 2 lakh hectares (5,47,525 acres) in the Joint Krishna District of which 1,68,459 hectares (4,21,147 acres) in Krishna district and 50,551 hectares (1,26,377 acres) in NTR district. But, this Kharif season the cultivation of paddy is confined to 4, 57, 182 acres and extent of the diminishing paddy crop is 90,342 acres.

Declining of the paddy cultivation is automatically causing a huge effect on the yield. According to the agricultural officers, each acre of paddy can produce a yield of between 20 and 30 quintals.

Land with water facility 24/7 can produce 25 to 35 quintal of yield per acre. If the crop is not damaged by the cyclones, the expected yield can be 12 lakh metric tons to 14 lakh metric tons every year. Of this, the authorities can procure around 8 to 10 lakh MT from the farmers.

Paddy yield is likely to be confined around 9 to 10 lakh metric tons this year as the paddy cultivation has declined by over 20 per cent. This year, over 2 lakh metric tons of paddy yield is likely to be decreased.

Last year, the authorities procured 7 lakh metric tons of paddy from farmers. But this year it can be confined to around 5 lakh tons, except the grains which are hoarded for food purpose. Around 3 lakh metric tons of paddy is hoarded for food purpose every year.

Apart from the dry spell, the paddy cultivation has been destroyed by the rain this year.

Speaking to ‘The Hans India,’ Krishna District Agriculture JD N Padmavathi said that due to various reasons such as digging ponds in agricultural lands for fishing purposes and conversing the lands for real estate purposes, the cultivation of paddy had been reduced this kharif season.

She also said that owing to the water shortage, the expected paddy yield was unlikely to be realised. However, they are expecting around 7 lakh metric tons of paddy this year too, she said.

The government is setting up 317 paddy procurement centres across the Krishna district and farmers will be paid Rs 2,203 per quintal of ‘A’ type and Rs 2,183 for common type paddy for a quintal.