By Express News Service
BHOPAL: With deficient rain casting a shadow on the Kharif crops, particularly soybean in more than half of 53 districts-of Madhya Pradesh, the development is slowly turning into a poll issue in the assembly election-bound state.
According to India Meteorological Department in Bhopal, the entire state as on September 3, 2023, has reported 18 percent below normal rain. Out of the total 53 districts, at least 47 districts have reported below normal rains, ranging between 2% below normal in Anuppur and 46% below normal in Satna district – both being districts of the Vindhya region.
But as per the latest figures, the condition is very serious in at least 29 districts, spanning from Sehore and Vidisha (21% below normal) in central MP and Satna, Mandsaur and Ashok Nagar (40% to 46% below normal) in Vindhya, west MP and Gwalior-Chambal regions respectively.
While 17 of the 29 worst hit districts have reported 21% to 28% below normal rain, between June 1 and September 3, at least eight districts have recorded 30% to 39% below normal rain, while three other districts have reported over 40% below normal rain in the same period.
In many districts of western MP, particularly Mandsaur, Neemuch, Ujjain, Ratlam, Barwani and Khargone, which form the main soybean and cotton cash crop cultivating areas of the state, farmers have been resorting to bizarre rituals, like feeding gulab jamun sweets to donkey, village sarpanch riding a donkey and donkeys ploughing the parched fields to propitiate the rain god.
In Silawad town, Barwani district, the traders downed their shutters and joined other residents (both Hindu and Muslims) in offering special prayers in temples and Eidgah. According to a farmer’s leader Kedar Sirohi, the condition is particularly worst in soybean growing western MP districts. “Drought like conditions owing to scanty rainfall in August particularly, is seeing the soybean crop fizzle out. It’s feared that 40% of the soybean crop could have already been lost due to scanty rain, infestation by insects and diseases like yellow mosaic. Adding to the woes of the farmers, are growing unscheduled power cuts and dearth of sufficient water in canals and dams,” Sirohi claimed.
As per reports from Mandsaur and Neemuch, the two main soybean cultivating west MP districts, where soybean has been cultivated in over 4.60 lakh hectare area, around 20-30% crop could already have been lost. Concerned over the situation, CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan chaired a high level meeting in Bhopal on Sunday evening to take stock of the situation due to deficient rains. “Our government stands firmly with farmers in this crisis situation, we’ll ensure water supply from dams where water is available,” he said.
BHOPAL: With deficient rain casting a shadow on the Kharif crops, particularly soybean in more than half of 53 districts-of Madhya Pradesh, the development is slowly turning into a poll issue in the assembly election-bound state.
According to India Meteorological Department in Bhopal, the entire state as on September 3, 2023, has reported 18 percent below normal rain. Out of the total 53 districts, at least 47 districts have reported below normal rains, ranging between 2% below normal in Anuppur and 46% below normal in Satna district – both being districts of the Vindhya region.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
But as per the latest figures, the condition is very serious in at least 29 districts, spanning from Sehore and Vidisha (21% below normal) in central MP and Satna, Mandsaur and Ashok Nagar (40% to 46% below normal) in Vindhya, west MP and Gwalior-Chambal regions respectively.
While 17 of the 29 worst hit districts have reported 21% to 28% below normal rain, between June 1 and September 3, at least eight districts have recorded 30% to 39% below normal rain, while three other districts have reported over 40% below normal rain in the same period.
In many districts of western MP, particularly Mandsaur, Neemuch, Ujjain, Ratlam, Barwani and Khargone, which form the main soybean and cotton cash crop cultivating areas of the state, farmers have been resorting to bizarre rituals, like feeding gulab jamun sweets to donkey, village sarpanch riding a donkey and donkeys ploughing the parched fields to propitiate the rain god.
In Silawad town, Barwani district, the traders downed their shutters and joined other residents (both Hindu and Muslims) in offering special prayers in temples and Eidgah. According to a farmer’s leader Kedar Sirohi, the condition is particularly worst in soybean growing western MP districts. “Drought like conditions owing to scanty rainfall in August particularly, is seeing the soybean crop fizzle out. It’s feared that 40% of the soybean crop could have already been lost due to scanty rain, infestation by insects and diseases like yellow mosaic. Adding to the woes of the farmers, are growing unscheduled power cuts and dearth of sufficient water in canals and dams,” Sirohi claimed.
As per reports from Mandsaur and Neemuch, the two main soybean cultivating west MP districts, where soybean has been cultivated in over 4.60 lakh hectare area, around 20-30% crop could already have been lost. Concerned over the situation, CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan chaired a high level meeting in Bhopal on Sunday evening to take stock of the situation due to deficient rains. “Our government stands firmly with farmers in this crisis situation, we’ll ensure water supply from dams where water is available,” he said.
