Cash in crops for greater benefit

3 August 2012

biswabrata goswami
TAMLUK, 3 AUG: Mr Amlan Maity of Amarshi village at Pataspur-I block of East Midnapore district has scaled down the area on which he grows paddy by more than one-third this year.
Of his six or so acres of land, only about four have been sown with paddy. Traditionally a rice farmer, he is now considering opportunities to sow cash crops on the rest of the land.
East Midnapore is one of West Bengal's rice-growing districts, producing three paddy crops a year. But a lack of remunerative prices in the last couple of seasons has forced a large number of farmers in the region to sow less paddy in this kharif season.
The cost of rice production ~ including labour, fertiliser, land rentals or other inputs ~ rose more than 53 per cent between 2008-09 and 2011-12, while the minimum support price (MSP) set by the government rose only about 20 per cent during that period, according to the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices.
This year, scanty rainfall has hit the paddy transplantation badly, and the problem has become even more acute because the power links for the deep tube wells in a few blocks have not been finished yet. As a result, thousands of farmers could not irrigate their lands to sow paddy, said Mr Mamud Hossain, the saha-sabhadhipati of the zilla parishad.
"A total of 31 deep tube wells were set up in 2010 and 2012 under RIDF (Rural Infrastructure Development Fund) schemes," Mr Hossain said. "But out of 31 deep tube wells, power connections for 23 tube wells situated in Egra-II, Pataspur-I, Panskura and Bhagwanpur-I and II blocks have not been established yet.
"We have repeatedly informed the matter to the concerned electric supply department, but no action has been taken," he said.
Steep rises in fertiliser prices have worsened the situation. Mr Maity said: "The prices of key fertilisers such as diammonium phosphate and potash and pesticides has more than doubled in the last year. The price that we are getting does not even help us cover our production costs."
The delayed monsoon is also likely to impact the productivity of the crop. "Transplantation has to be done within 18-22 days of sowing the crop; otherwise, the yield will be affected. But, for transplantation, we need good rains,” said Mr Sheikh Mahiruddin, another farmer in Egra.
According to the district agricultural officer, close to 10-15 per cent of the transplantation work has been done in the district so far, well below the 30-35 per cent that was done by this time last year.