Drought Preparedness 2015-16, West Bengal Dr. P. Bhattacharyya, OSD & Ex-Officio Director of Agriculture, West Bengal.

Drought Preparedness, learning from past 15 out of 19 Agricultural districts were found to have rainfall deficit of 30% Maximum over normal rainfall up-to Mid June, 2014, i.e early Kharif During mid-Kharif i.e up to mid August, 14 the deficit varied between 14 to 21%, which became 13% by end of Kharif season. Rainfall deficit was maximum in fertile south Bengal districts than North Bengal. Although considering unit area, drought didn’t occur in entire block, but different mouzas got >90% affected & drought like situation prevailed. Inter-Departmental Committees at different levels were formed during 2014-15 to Plan & execute at the grass root level.

Drought Preparedness, 2015-16 State level interdepartmental meeting will be held soon for combating drought at the grass root level. GOI intervention is required regarding convergence of MGNREGA activity for strengthening of Bunds around Individual Plots to harvest more water. 10% of D/Cs in less drought prone districts & 25% of the D/Cs of drought prone districts are planned with SRI. Targeted 40 nos of D/C with Sahabhagi Dhan in drought prone districts & 2000 MT Drought tolerant HYV Paddy seed is required to cover another 40,000 ha in drought prone areas. Targeted 10% more ZT Rice in drought threaten Mouzas of the State. 750 MT of lentil & 1250 MT of Khesari seed are required to go for relay crops in 50000 Ha.

Drought Management Plan-2015-16 Interventions Area (Lakh ha) Fund/Quantity of input required (Rs. Crore) Support with distribution of drought tolerant HYV Paddy seeds(115-120 Days) 4.0 8.00 Crore (2000 MT) Support with quality seeds of Urd, Lentil, Khesari, Rape seed & Mustard, Maize, 1.7 50.00 crore (400, 750, 1250, 240, 200 & 3000 MT) Restructuring of existing loan &issuance of fresh loan to the Loanee farmer Special instruction from GOI solicited

Rainfall Analysis of West Bengal in 2014 & 2015 Meteorological Division Pre-Monsoon (March to May) 2015 Monsoon 2014 Departure Affected Dists. Where Rainfall Deficit > 20% Sub-Himalayan West Bengal + 21% Nil - 12% Uttar Dinajpur Gangetic West Bengal + 9% - 14% Bankura. Purulia, W. Midnapur & S. 24 Pgs

Rainfall (mm) Analysis of Sub-Himalayan Region of West Bengal, 2014 & 2015 District Pre-Monsoon (March to 25thMay), 2015 Monsoon , 2014 Actual Normal % Departure Darjeeling 494 328 51 2743 2472 11 Jalpaiguri 471 420 12 2458 2765 -11 Coochbehar 473 384 23 2006 2398 -16 U/Dinajpur 225 213 6 1074 1635 -34 D/Dinajpur 187 216 -13 1122 1349 -17 Malda 196 130 1039 1182 -12 Region Average 341 282 21 1740 1969

Rainfall (mm) Analysis of Gangetic Region of West Bengal, 2014 & 2015 District Pre-Monsoon (March to 25th May), 2015 Monsoon, 2014 Actual Normal % Departure Murshidabad 180 148 22 891 1040 -14 Nadia 155 192 -19 881 1053 -16 Birbhum 167 128 31 969 1113 -13 Bankura 207 134 54 851 1073 -21 Purulia 129 97 34 838 1076 -22 Burdwan 177 157 12 889 1019 Hooghly 196 183 7 1013 1098 -8 E/Medinipore 185 -15 1352 1241 9 W/Medinipore 214 173 24 832 1180 -30 Howrah 193 -10 990 1168 N. 24-Parganas 234 206 13 1114 1191 -6 S. 24-Parganas 170 181 1107 1446 -23 Region Average 165 977 1142

Monthly Actions for Drought Management Type of drought Time of occurrence Actions to be taken(Advisory given to districts) Early season June to 1st week of July Harvest of runoff water with more number of surface water harvesting structures like pond, dug well etc. Strengthening of earthen bunds around the individual plot Application of organic manure to improve water holding capacity of soil. Preparation of Community Seedbed of rice seedlings near common source of water body Staggered sowing of rice seed in seedbed at 10-15 days interval. Direct seeding of rice through Zero Tillage machine. Sole & mixed cultivation of arhar, black gram, groundnut, maize. Mid season Rest of July Double transplanting of medium to long duration rice varieties to avoid the drought time in the main field. Mechanical weeding in rice and use the uprooted biomass of weeds as soil mulch. Apply DAP or Urea @ 1-2% as foliar spray & no soil application of Urea. Other Actions as suggested for July. Late season August Actions are similar to those of July.

Contingent Plan-2015-16 Contingent seed beds of Paddy will be prepared in Government farms. Farmers will be advised to raise community seed beds near source of irrigation water in phases. Under post kharif season, crops like Black Gram will be grown. Transplanting under west Bengal can continue even up to 15th August with varieties up to 115-120 days duration. Farmers will be advised to grow paddy following double –transplanting method. Promotion of Khesari, Lentil, Toria like crop will also increase area & production of Pulse & Oilseed crops even under rainfed condition. Rabi crops like Wheat, Mustard, Lentil, Maize, Groundnut & Summer crops like Sesame and Moong are the best suited crops under West Bengal situation.

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