Repetitive assurances to improve irrigation networks
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: November 02, 2022 -
HAVING acknowledged that lack of water is the primary reason behind majority of the prime agricultural lands across the state remaining barren for months after harvesting paddy crop, there is no foreseeable reason for the government authorities, the agriculture department to be specific, to ignore the importance of implementing irrigation projects on war footing.
In fact, successive agriculture ministers and top department officials have been giving assurances of providing proper irrigation facilities to the food producers whenever the state faces rainfall deficit and drought-like situation during the peak paddy plantation season only to repeat the same rhetoric during periodical distribution of crop seeds, launch of centrally-funded agricultural scheme or when farmers and political opponents make a hue and cry over difficulties befalling upon the farming communities.
For instance, when protracted dry spell gripped the state as the paddy farmers prepared to till their land in the first quarter of the year, incumbent minister Th Biswajit accompanied by agricultural experts carried out extensive surveys to assess the ground situation and mooted digging of tube wells or hand pumps to mitigate plight of the farmers.
However, after the pre-monsoon rainfall lashed the state and farmers commenced paddy plantation activities, there were no significant follow-up measures to actually implement the tube well and hand pump projects.
The fallout of such government apathy or callousness is being felt by the farmers, whose expectation for at-least normal paddy yield this year is out of the picture as almost all the rain-fed paddy fields have developed cracks.
Considering the near-total absence of irrigation network, it's not surprising that the objective for doubling farmers' income this year, which is the 75th anniversary of India's independence, has failed utterly in the state as could be comprehended from the paddy farmers' reluctance to harvest and thresh the standing crop, for which they must foot the bill for hiring men and machines.
At the national level, steps have been taken for improving the agricultural sector through commercialisation, fixing minimum support price (MSP), attractive packaging and marketing of the farm produce, whereas here in the state farmers continue to depend on gracious monsoon rainfall for growing paddy, the main food crop.
Such pitiable condition sums up the plight of the food producers. Moreover, farmers' bodies seeking extension of monetary compensation from the government and urging farmland owners to exempt the tenant farmers from the annual tax payment are ample evidences about crop failure.
The distressful situation besieging the farmers could have been averted had the government galvanised all its available resources and technical expertise towards execution of the much-publicised irrigation projects.
Nevertheless, with none other than chief minister N Biren himself expressing concern, during Monday's farm equipment distribution function, over large tract of agricultural fields left barren for months in a calendar year, there is every reason for the farmers to believe that his appeal to make good use of paddy fields post-harvest would be complemented by instructing agriculture as well as allied departments to construct check dams over the existing rivers, tap ground water, properly maintain the existing channel/canal systems and accelerate actual implementation of the planned irrigation projects with immediate effect.
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