The paddy crop in Uttar Pradesh is likely to benefit from the rainfall caused by the cyclone Hud hud, which hit eastern and central districts of the state on Monday with strong winds and downpour.
Hud hud, which ravaged the coastal regions of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha with high velocity winds of almost 195 km an hour (kmph) on Sunday, made its way to Uttar Pradesh.
The state capital of Lucknow woke up to a cloudy sky, which was followed by strong wind and downpour. Several other districts in east and central Uttar Pradesh witnessed a similar wet climate.
Like most parts of India, the state had received a deficient rainfall this year due to the El Nino effect. The withdrawal of monsoon was also largely dry and humid, which had added to the irrigation overheads of farmers due to higher outlay for diesel pump-sets.
According to the regional Metrological Department Director J P Gupta, the effect of Hudhud would persist till Tuesday in UP and the extent of impact in terms of rainfall and winds could be analysed only after that.
Hud hud had weakened after it reached the state with wind velocity slowing down to about 60 kmph, he said. "Its effect would also be felt in western UP districts to some extent.”
Uttar Pradesh has clocked 13 per cent increase in paddy acreage compared to the target set for current season. Against paddy acreage target of 6.045 million hectares (mh), the state has achieved acreage of 6.85 mh.
During 2013, the state paddy acreage and production had stood at 5.9 mh and 15.3 million tones, respectively.
Hud hud, which ravaged the coastal regions of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha with high velocity winds of almost 195 km an hour (kmph) on Sunday, made its way to Uttar Pradesh.
The state capital of Lucknow woke up to a cloudy sky, which was followed by strong wind and downpour. Several other districts in east and central Uttar Pradesh witnessed a similar wet climate.
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“Hud hud is not estimated to have any adverse impact on agricultural crops in UP. In fact, the rainfall would benefit the late maturing variety of paddy and save the irrigation cost of farmers to some extent,” Uttar Pradesh Agriculture Director A K Bishnoi told Business Standard.
Like most parts of India, the state had received a deficient rainfall this year due to the El Nino effect. The withdrawal of monsoon was also largely dry and humid, which had added to the irrigation overheads of farmers due to higher outlay for diesel pump-sets.
According to the regional Metrological Department Director J P Gupta, the effect of Hudhud would persist till Tuesday in UP and the extent of impact in terms of rainfall and winds could be analysed only after that.
Hud hud had weakened after it reached the state with wind velocity slowing down to about 60 kmph, he said. "Its effect would also be felt in western UP districts to some extent.”
Uttar Pradesh has clocked 13 per cent increase in paddy acreage compared to the target set for current season. Against paddy acreage target of 6.045 million hectares (mh), the state has achieved acreage of 6.85 mh.
During 2013, the state paddy acreage and production had stood at 5.9 mh and 15.3 million tones, respectively.