The Hindu : National : Paddy transplantation still a point of worry

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Paddy transplantation still a point of worry

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Paddy transplantation remains a point of worry, with the shortfall standing at 30.5 lakh hectares.

According to the latest Kharif crop coverage figures released by the Ministry of Agriculture, paddy has been transplanted on 114.63 lakh hectares, against 145.21 lakh hectares covered in the corresponding period last year. The area covered so far is just 50 per cent of the area covered last year when paddy was grown on 396.58 lakh hectares.

The shortfall portends a 10 per cent deficiency in coverage and production unless things improve drastically in the coming weeks.

Among the worst affected States are Jharkhand (42.9 per cent less), Maharashtra (36 per cent), West Bengal (35 per cent), Tamil Nadu (34.7 per cent), Jammu and Kashmir (34 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (33 per cent), Bihar (29 per cent) and Andhra Pradesh (26 per cent).

Transplantation has been better than last year in Uttarakhand (38 per cent more), Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Haryana.

Though the government has claimed that it has enough stock to cope with the shortage, it is worried about the impact on prices in particular and the economy in general. Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar took stock of the prices of commodities on Wednesday.

But the real sufferers will be the farmers who are facing a loss of crop and income, Agriculture Ministry officials say.

Among the coarse cereals, Bajra has so far been planted on 34.67 lakh hectares, against 46 lakh hectares last year. The sowing of the other coarse cereals has picked up.

The sowing of oilseeds has remarkably improved over the past two weeks to be marginally below the target.

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