Irrigation and Flood Control Department along with allied departments like Agriculture , revenue & Authorities at the helm of affairs in one voice had advised farmers in many areas not to cultivate irrigated crops & issued advisories to farmers not to sow water-intensive paddy this season due to a water scarcity.Instead, the advisory urged them to sow pulses and other cash crops, which need less water. Though Water level was very low this year due to dry winter in Kashmir, but that was the initial stage of Paddy farming in Kashmir valley. It was early season of paddy nursery in Kashmir and in full paddy session comes we had experienced rains in the past,a hope on Almighty that will fulfill the water shortage and farmers didn’t got panic. 30% of valley farmers feared a drought as the majority depend on the rainwater collecting in their paddy fields for the planting process. To irrigate the crop later, farmers use water from the stream, which was missing. Fields in Kashmir valley are capable to produce only rice and not any other cash crops.In Kashmir, rice is the staple food. Paddy is cultivated in around 1.41 lakh hectares of land. Nearly 88 lakh quintals of rice are produced every year, and the industry is worth Rs 400-500 crore.
Farmers can grow maize, cereal, and other short-duration crops. Instead of one, they can grow more than two crops. Here trend has not changed from cultivating the traditional crops to cash crops. The expenditure on paddy cultivation has doubled as farmers are using more labour & machinery while going for i. Other crops which require less irrigation & expenditure like pulse crops are not preferred due to lack of market value of the produce. Vegetable cultivation is also a viable option, if same get the good price & supplied in off season to other parts of India. Around eight to ten varieties of rice are grown in the Valley. These varieties are considered among the best in the world due to the use of surface water and the minimum use of fertilizers. The varieties include K332, Jhelum, Shalimar Rice 1, Shalimar Rice 2, Shalimar Rice 3, Mushk Budji, Kamad and Zag or Red Rice. A long dry spell sent the mercury soaring in Jammu and Kashmirs , which recorded its dry-ever March this year, and raised the spectre of drought-like conditions.
Farmers Faith on Almighty ,past experiences from Rainfed Agriculture & timely rains of Monsoon.
Authorities have advised farmers in many areas not to cultivate paddy – a water-intensive crop – and the agricultural department is preparing a contingency plan to deal with any eventuality. “The Kashmir Valley has been witnessing above-normal maximum temperatures. Especially in the month of March, the day temperatures were eight to 11 notches above the normal. There has been some relief in temperature & the maximum temperature is still above the normal. This year due to unavaliablity of irrigation water, farmers had prepared Nurseries in other villages, where Natural springs, ponds, pernial streams & water channels are available. But nature had decided other things & maximum of them believed on Nature’s Realities. At the initial stage of Nurseries, it was tuff time to maintain water balance required necessary for seedlings. With the passage of time, everything came to normal. Due to timely rainfall, paddy nurseries managed to grow up to the crucial 35 days & paddy nurseries sown in the irrigated areas were left & the ones grown in the rain fed areas were utilised for transplantation.
Farmers had past experience of cultivating paddy on Rainfed & dryland rather than on Advisory. It has also been seen that, Paddy which needs standing water for 135 days , some varieties were successfully cultivated on only 70 days of irrigation in intervals. The matter of the fact is that our lands are much fertile & having efficient water holding capacity. Department of irrigation , which is responsible for irrigation facilities to the paddy lands is every collecting irrigation tax @ Rs 400/hectare, but issues advisories not to cultivate the crops which need irrigation. Water is hardly made avaliable in the Peak hours of need. From centuries poor farmers are looted in the name of irrigation tax, but there is no mechanism in place, which will guarantee you irrigation. We have enough water resources available in valley, but the usage is not maintained. We don’t have lift irrigation systems, channels, canals maintained or water diverted for usage. If properly managed we will never experience draught. Here problem lies with planning of Irrigation department. Our available irrigation sources are enough to feed the land used for the crops, which need more irrigation. The lack of irrigation infrastructure has compounded the farmers woes. Only 41% of Kashmir’s agricultural land has irrigation facalities,according to a recent economic survey. Government never has bothered to construct water harvesting infrastructure like Dams, irrigation tanks & lift irrigation systems. It would have been better to keep state in excellent position with no draught like situation as we get water from 8000 glaciers, that can save us for years if supplied properly
(The writer is a freelancer. His views are personal)
