Goa: Paddy crops damaged as heavy rain continues in India

Incessant rain that have been lashing Goa over the last few days has adversely affected paddy farmers in many parts of Salcete as water logging has damaged their crops.

Zonal agricultural officer, Salcete, Shariff Furtado said that farmers from Nuvem, Carmona and other places have already reported loss of their paddy crop after their fields got flooded.

“This happens when the fields remain water logged for a long time due to insufficient drainage system to allow the water to flow seawards,” Furtado said.

On a positive note, he pointed out that 20ha of land in Salcete that was lying fallow over many years has been brought under

cultivation this year. “Our constant motivation to farmers has started to bear fruits. People have now started coming in to inquire about agriculture schemes to bring their fallow land under cultivation during rabi (second crop) season,” Furtado said.

Salcete has around 5,200ha of land under cultivation in the rain-fed kharif season, while around 500ha of cultivable land lies

fallow. 24,000ha of land across the state is under paddy cultivation for the kharif season.

As water logging does not occur during the rabi season, agriculture officers have been asking farmers to cultivate the second

paddy crop and also to bring fallow land under cultivation.

“Water logging for long periods affects paddy crops which have been transplanted by mechanised methods,” Furtado said.

“Transplantation machines plant just one seedling per hill, whereas in manual methods, 3-4 seedlings are planted per hill. Thus

individual single seedlings are more susceptible to damage, whereas 3-4 seedlings transplanted per hill manually are able to effectively withstand water logging.”

Besides, as mechanised transplantation of paddy necessitates wide spacing between seedlings, this results in excessive

growth of weeds. An equipment called as a cono weeder needs to be used for de-weeding, agriculture officers said.

Sources associated with agriculture operations pointed out that beneficial subsidies offered by the agriculture department has

led to farmers switching over to mechanised transplantation over the last few years. Though this has led to farmers saving on

huge labour costs, they often have to encounter problems of excessive weed growth and similar problems.