Wet spell increases pest menace, farmers warned

MONSOON WATCH

The Kharif crop outlook has improved dramatically thanks to copious showers in most part of the country in past one-and-a-half week. Most of the areas which were passing through a prolonged dry spell, resulting in moisture stress symptoms on crops, have received adequate rainfall to rejuvenate the plants.

And what is even more significant, the current wet spell is likely to not only last till at least September 17 but may get prolonged further.

Further withdrawal of the monsoon, which had begun from west Rajasthan almost on schedule around September 2, may get delayed by at least one more week.

The present rainy spell has, indeed, come at a crucial stage when the crops needed water for their proper development. Paddy, the most important kharif cereal, is in the tillering or ear-formation stage and badly needed wet weather. The coarse cereals, oilseeds and pulses, too, were in need of water.

Even the areas which had remained perceptibly rain-deficient, such as Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand and, to some extent, Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have also received showers in this wet spell.

Water level in most reservoirs is quite comfortable to meet the irrigation needs in the coming weeks. Fertiliser consumption has risen by over 12 per cent, further boosting the prospects of a good kharif harvest.

However, the humid conditions are deemed favourable for pests and diseases as well. Agriculture experts are advising the farmers to be vigilant and take control measures as soon as the menace crosses the threshold level. An attack of pests like pyrilla and woolly aphid has been reported on sugarcane crop in some pockets of Uttar Pradesh as well as of Maharashtra.

Minor incidence of aphids on groundnut and semilooper and girdle beetle on soyabean has also been reported from some areas, especially parts of Madhya Pradesh.

According to National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) director Akhilesh Gupta, the whole of north-western and central India is likely to receive widespread rains, including some heavy showers, in the next three days.

This is because the well-marked low pressure area over north-west Madhya Pradesh is likely to interact with the prevailing western disturbance over north-west India.

Good rainfall is also expected in the next two to three days in the eastern region as well as south, barring interior Tamil Nadu and interior Karnataka, where rainfall may be isolated.

Maharashtra and adjoining areas, too, will get copious rainfall in this period though Vidharba region that has been reeling under excessive downpours in the past couple of days may get some respite due to a decrease in rainfall.

Gupta said another low pressure area was likely to form over central Bay of Bengal in the next 24 hours. This would further intensify and move in west-northwesterly direction, causing widespread rainfall, with heavy to very heavy showers, over Orissa and coastal Andhra Pradesh between September 17 and 19.

However, the rainfall prediction model used by the NCMRWF did not show chances of much rainfall beyond September 21. By that time, the monsoon season would, in any case, be at its fag end. Significantly, the benefits of the late season monsoon rainfall will accrue not only to the standing crops but also to the next rabi sowing thanks to the residual soil moisture.

Fertiliser consumption, another major indicator of agricultural production prospects, has risen appreciably in the current kharif.

According to the Fertiliser Association of India (FAI), the sale of urea between April and July this year was 12.5 per cent higher than in the corresponding period last year. Similarly, the sale of phosphatic and potassic fertilisers, too, registered an increase of 0.4 per cent and 15.2 per cent, respectively.

There are, however, some concerns over the availability of phosphatic fertilisers due to delay in imports caused by belated decision-taking by the government. The total inventory of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) was too low at merely 2,75,000 tonne in the beginning of the season. This is deemed partly responsible for relatively meagre growth in DAP consumption.

But the availability of water in reservoirs is extremely good this year. Many of the reservoirs in southern states are brimming over for the first time in over a decade.

Total water storage in 76 major reservoirs on September 9 was 99.37 billion cubic metres (BCM), against 82.46 BCM at the same time last year and past 10 years' average of 81.65 BCM.

Thus, this level is higher by 21 per from last year's and 19 per cent from last 10 years' average. More than half of the reservoirs are either full or nearly full, having over 80 per cent storage. Only 11 dams have below 30 per cent storage.