Bihar's paddy cultivation dips by 58%

Sowing area of paddy in Bihar, which registered 42% less rainfall, has declined by 58% to 15 lakh hectares. In the kharif season, the state also suffers from less area under cultivation compared to the last season. S Singh, deputy director - statistic, Bihar agriculture department, said, "In the last kharif season, the acreage stood at 34.5 lakh hectare. The targeted area for the ongoing Kharif season was 35.5 lakh hectare." The union agriculture ministry said that due to less rainfall, area under coverage of rice in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar is less than last year. Planting will continue up to August-end in eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. In an official statement, the ministry, said, "Overall, the total paddy acreage till August 6 is 228.19 lakh hectares, 58 lakh hectares less than the year-ago period. In case of oilseeds and pulses also, area under coverage in Bihar is lagging behind the target. Area under pulses so far is 1.41 lakh acres against the target of 3.08 lakh acres, while oilseeds acreage is only 14,287 acres as compared to the target of 48,421 acres." Further, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had declared 26 of the 38 districts as natural calamity-hit and urged the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to immediately rush a team of union ministers to assess the drought situation. The state government will also seek Rs 10,500 crore to deal with the situation. According to estimates, the drought has affected 1.26 crore families in the state.