Truant rain has paddy growers worry over harvest

Truant rain has paddy growers worry over harvest

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Aug 9,2015 :  The truant unusual  rain patternis causing paddy growers great worry;   concerned about pest attacks  and serious drop in yield.

One farmer from Savanur near Puttur, said when there was steady rainfall, there was no worry about pest attack. He said rain also brought along breeze, essential for healthy growth of saplings.    Joint Director, Department of Agriculture, Dakshina Kannada, said thrips attacked the crops during the dry spell. But so far, there have been no reports of it in the district.

A  paddy grower in Nada village, near Ujire, said good rain at least till this month-end was essential for the saplings that had been planted from the nurseries. Dry spells are not good for many paddy varieties, including the hybrid.

   It was too early to predict whether less rainfall last month would affect the yield. If it rains now steadily, it may not. He said farmers have grown paddy on 19,850 hectares (ha) in the district till July-end. Planting was expected to be done in another 5,000 ha if it rained till this month-end. In the kharif season last year, paddy was planted in 29,500 ha till August-end 2014.

The Joint Director said the department recommends cultivating MO-4 and Uma varieties in the district. They yield an average of 40 quintals of paddy per hectare.

So far, the department distributed 315 quintals of MO-4 seeds to farmers in the district, which had 38,291 ha under paddy in the 1999 kharif season. It came down to 29,500 ha, a drop of 8,791 hectares (23 per cent), in the kharif season in 2014.   Officials attributed this to farmers switching over to horticulture crops and converting the area under the food crop for various other activities.