Excess moisture damages crops in Sundargarh

Sporadic cases of damage to certain varieties of short duration paddy crops, including Khandagiri, GB-1 and Soubhagini, are being reported from many villages of the rain-fed Sundargarh district.
A farmer shows his damaged paddy crop at Shraddhapur village in Sundargarh district | Express
A farmer shows his damaged paddy crop at Shraddhapur village in Sundargarh district | Express

ROURKELA:Sporadic cases of damage to certain varieties of short duration paddy crops, including Khandagiri, GB-1 and Soubhagini, are being reported from many villages of the rain-fed Sundargarh district.

Affected farmers said after the recent low pressure induced rain, paddy crops that are in harvesting stage have developed sprouting due to excessive moisture.Farmers of Sihidia, Jakeikela, Talita, Badgogua and Kenabhatta in Bonai block, Bisipali and Turamura in Gurundia and several villages of Lahunipara and Bargaon blocks complained of crop damage.

Farmer, Chudamani Mahanta of Shraddhapur village of Rajamunda panchayat in Lahunipara block claimed that his paddy crops that are ready for harvesting on two acres of land have been damaged with sprouting due to recent rain.

Sundargarh Deputy Director of Agriculture RN Satpathy said standing crops of ‘no dormancy’ nature in only those farm fields lacking water discharge option, have been affected. He said it is a common phenomena for certain varieties of paddy seeds and the loss is confined to limited number of farmers. The partially damaged crops can be recovered after proper drying.

Satpathy said information is being collected about damaged crops and overall crop condition across the district is good. While 2.11 lakh hectares (ha) have been covered under paddy cultivation, non-paddy crops  grown in 1,01,555 ha, he added.

The Deputy Director said paddy crops on upland are in harvesting stage, while on medium land, it is in milking to grain filing stage and on low land, it is in panicle initiation to milking stages. The total paddy crop output is likely to surpass expectation, he added. Non-paddy crops, including ground nut and pulses like moong and biri are in harvesting stage, while mandia crops have matured. Pulse crops are in flowering to fruit-bearing stage, he informed.

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