With the monsoon playing truant in Orissa and the state receiving 32 per cent less rainfall in June and up to 40 per cent less rainfall than the normal till July 21, the agricultural production is likely to be hit and the threat of a drought looms large.
“As many as 17 districts of the state have received deficient rainfall of 30-50 per cent in the current month. Of these 17 districts, four districts- Angul, Deogarh, Kendrapara and Mayurbhanj have received 50 per cent less rainfall”, said minister for revenue and disaster management S N Patra.
He admitted that the deficient monsoon has hit agricultural operations leaving the farmers high and dry. The minister warned that the situation may worsen if the monsoons do not bounce back within the next 5-6 days. Taking into consideration the overall rainfall in all the districts of the state, the rainfall received till July 21 stands at 136.4 mm which is 40.7 per cent less than the normal rainfall.
In Angul, the rainfall received by the said date has been only 82.5 mm which is 65 per cent less than 235.5 mm which the district normally receives.
The situation is worse for Kendrapara which has received only 59.3 mm of rainfall in this month (till July 21) which is 72.4 per cent less than the normal figure of 214.8 mm.
Only three districts- Rayagada, Nabarangpur and Ganjam have received more than normal rainfall in July.
“Agriculture has been carried out over 26.60 hectares of land (as on July 17 this year) as against 24.30 hectares in the second week of July 2009. Out of this total land for agricultural cultivation, paddy cultivation has been taken up in 17.92 hectares of land”, the minister stated.
