State lags behind national average in rice production

BHUBANESWAR: Between 2012 and '15, Odisha won national awards for excellence in foodgrain productions. But when it comes to producing rice, it has fallen behind the national average despite the area under paddy cultivation being more than other states. Over the last decade the all-India average of rice production stands at more than 2,000 kg/hectare (kg/ha). In the same period Odisha has

steadily increased its production from 1,554 kg/ha in 2005-06 to 2,361 in 2012-13. But over the past few years the number has started declining. In 2013-14 the yield was 1,821 kg/ha while in 2015-16 it had dipped to 1,491 kg/ha from 1,989 in 2014-15.

Explaining the change, agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy said in a written reply in the assembly recently: "Odisha faces natural calamities like drought, cyclone, flood and untimely rain almost every year. Despite all odds, there was a gradual growth in rice production every year due to a number of steps taken by the state government. Effort is on to match the national average."

The reason for the sharp decline in production in 2015-16 was attributed to drought-like situation in as many as 27 of the 30 districts, official figures revealed. Over 200 farmers allegedly committed suicide due to crop loss and debt burden though the state government claimed that most of the deaths were due to other reasons.

Asked about the low yield despite paddy being cultivated in two-thirds of the total cultivable land, agriculture scientist and vice-chancellor of OUAT S N Pasupalak said: "Factors like low mechanization, poor nutrient management, structure of land and low irrigation potential are responsible for low production of rice in the state."

Among all districts, Bargarh, known as the rice bowl of Odisha, stands at the top in producing highest amount of rice constantly for past 10 years. Other districts like Boudh, Dhenkanal, Nabarangapur, Rayagada, Sambalpur, Sonepur and Sundargarh have been recording high production of rice for past two years.

Despite drought in 2015-16, Jagatsinghpur and Bhadrak produced 2,571 kg/ha and 2,505 kg/ha, respectively, among the highest in the country.

"For increase in productivity, Odisha has been promoting modern methods like system of rice intensification (SRI), practice of multiple crops, soil testing, supplying quality seeds and augmenting irrigation potential," said an officer in the agriculture department.

A number of centrally-sponsored schemes like National Food Security Mission, Bringing Green Revolution in Eastern India, National Mission on Agricultural Extension and Technology, National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana are being implemented in the state to increase the agriculture productivity.

Odisha has been winning successive krishi karman awards among category-II states for record foodgrain production.

According to sources in the directorate of economics and statistics, states like West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab are ahead of Odisha in rice production..