The Hindu : National : Drought looming large over Rajasthan

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Wednesday, Jul 28, 2004

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National

Drought looming large over Rajasthan

By Our Special Correspondent

JAIPUR, JULY 27. The spectre of drought looms large over Rajasthan in the wake of inordinate delay in the monsoon this year. The prolonged dry spell has affected the sowing operations and led to "moisture stress'' in the standing kharif crops in several regions of the State, besides creating scarcity of fodder and drinking water.

The State has received only 40 per cent of the average rainfall well past mid-July and almost all the reservoirs are empty. With the first phase of the monsoon missing the State, the farmers have sown only 37 per cent of the cultivable area. According to the agricultural experts, the shortfall cannot be compensated even if it rains now.

Farmers will incur losses

Though the scattered showers in the Shekhawati and Mewar regions during the last few days had held out some hope that the situation might not develop into a full-fledged drought, it is now certain that the farmers are going to incur heavy losses on the input investments made in their fields. The steep rise in the fodder prices threatens the cattle population as well.

The paucity of water will not only damage crops but also lead to a fall in the hydro-power generation, affecting the development process and weakening the State's economy.

In the northern parts of Rajasthan — comprising Sriganganagar, Hanumangarh and Bikaner districts — the failure of the monsoon has been compounded by the Punjab Government's decision to terminate all water-sharing agreements. This has threatened the status of Sriganganagar as the major centre of cotton production in the State.

The farmers who switched over to cash crops in the Shekhawati region are likely to suffer losses. The major crops grown in Sikar, Churu and Jhunjhunu districts of Shekhawati belt are bajra, gowar and moth, but they were sown in less than half of the area managed during the normal monsoon years.

Signs of decay

The main crop of the arid region is bajra, but the time for its planting has run out. "In the absence of sufficient rainfall, it is difficult to raise bajra crops for grains. The farmers can now grow it as fodder,'' Chiranjilal Maharia, a farm consultant in Sikar, told The Hindu. The bajra already sown is showing signs of decay.

A large number of agricultural fields in the State, even around Jaipur, comprise the "barani'' (without wells) land, having no source of water other than rains. The absence of rains means a bleak outlook for the areas with maximum sowing, such as Udaipur division and Shekhawati belt.

``The sufferers will be the farmers who have gone in for cash crops. Groundnut will not grow inside the dry land and they will lose their investments on seeds, tilling and cultivation,'' Laxman Singh, a retired Cooperative Education Officer, said. Moreover, the kharif crop could not be delayed because it affected the sowing for the rabi crops.

Nemi Chand, a farmer in Katrathal village — 10 km from Sikar — said that irrigation by water extracted from borewells could not replace the rains as the latter were accompanied by a humid atmosphere conducive to the growth of plants. "Once the sowing has failed, it cannot be repeated the same year.''

Ironically, Rajasthan received good rains last year after witnessing five consecutive years of drought.

The farmers in the State compare this year's situation with that in 2002 and fear that even after the delayed rains, vast tracts of fields would witness drought.

Northern Rajasthan is on the verge of collapse with the two principal crops — cotton and sugarcane — damaged on a largescale. The fields on either side of the Sriganganagar-Karanpur road present a pathetic sight with withering plants of very little height.

``By this time, the cotton plants should have developed lobes and the sugarcane should have attained the height of at least four feet,'' Jeet Singh, a farmer in Sunakarwalia village, said. Cotton, considered the lifeline for the local farmers, has been sown in an area measuring 1.16-lakh hectares against the target of 1.42-lakh hectares.

The Sriganganagar region, adjoining Punjab, has three fully functional irrigation systems, but the authorities have imposed restriction on the release of water from the Indira Gandhi Canal for irrigation due to inadequate supply from Harike barrage for more than a month. The embargo was lifted only on July 16. The farmers fear that after the monsoon playing truant, the Ravi-Beas waters drawn from the Harike barrage can be stopped any moment even though Punjab has assured that the existing utilisation by the neighbouring States will not be affected.

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