Govt keeps fingers crossed on paddy

A bumper paddy crop is in the offing in Uttarakhand unless the impact of a new disease caused by some insects is not huge.

Officials here said that the estimate for the paddy crops is going to be 6.13 lakh metric tons this season against the previous year's production of 5.32 metric tons.

"If everything goes well, the rice production in the state can be 80,000 metric tons more in the coming season," said the Director Agriculture Madan Lal.

There have been reports that insects have invaded some parts of the state following heavy monsoon season. An insect called Leaf folder is being dubbed as the main culprit. An alert in this regard has been sounded in Uttarakhand.

Dehra Dun, Udham Singh Nagar, Haridwar and Pauri are the worst affected districts where the leaf folder has affected the crops.

"We are studying the impact of the insects on the paddy," Agriculture Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said.

Officials said the Pant Nagar Agriculture University has also been asked to send its advisory to farmers for the protection of paddy, which is vulnerable to insect invasion when the rainfall becomes heavy. The government is carrying out anti-insect drives in these areas by sprinkling insecticides.

So far, there is no report of any big damage due to the leaf folder insect, they said. But since the monsoon season is waning fast in the north, the government is hoping that it may help in the natural death of these insects.

Already, paddy is being grown on an area of 2.99 lakh hectares in Uttarakhand with the government adding 15 hectares this season.