THE prospect of low per-acre yield of the paddy crop due to extended nurseries and late transplantation of saplings in fields are haunting rice growers in Sindh.

Paddy producers from the province blame late canal water supplies for delayed sowing, while lower Sindh goes for an early sowing of kharif crops. Farmers say nurseries become overage when nurseries are prolonged, which affects their transplantation and productivity.

Extended nurseries, explains veteran farmer Abdul Majeed Nizamani, affect the multiplication of tillers in stick. It becomes difficult to transplant saplings in the field from the nursery beds.

The Sindh agriculture department has fixed this year’s paddy sowing target at 700,000 hectares, against last year’s 645,000 hectares. However, paddy was cultivated on 745,539 hectares last season

“Multiple factors affected us. First, we were hit by irrigation water shortage, and then by climatic conditions. Growers who had prepared their nurseries in a timely manner kept waiting for water availability for transplantation. And while seedlings were in nurseries, unusually high velocity winds hit them,” says Nizamani, who heads the Sindh Abadgar Board.

He informed that transplantation was delayed by 15-20 days in the Kotri barrage’s command area. As of today, he says, the crop outlook is not encouraging, but he hopes that if the temperature rises, it might lead to some growth in output.

“I fear a 20pc drop in production.” He says that nowadays, paddy is grown in the perennial area, where it is prohibited. In the exclusive rice belt alone, hardly 75pc of the land has been brought under rice cultivation. This area has again been hit by water shortage and harsh climate conditions.

The transplantation of saplings is still in progress in the province. The Sindh agriculture department has increased the target for Badin to 110,000 hectares from last year’s 78,000 hectares, and that of Kashmore to 90,000 hectares from 75,000. It is likely that these targets would be achieved, and in the case of Badin, the target may be surpassed by a few thousand hectares. It is hardly in the 20-25pc of the rice belt area where nurseries were timely prepared and transplanted.

Farmers from Larkana and Qambar-Shahdadkot point out that late canal water supply to the command areas of rice, Dadu and north-western canals of Sukkur barrage had put them in a difficult situation. They say that while the barrages were taking full supplies of irrigation water, the shortage was being reported in the canal-fed area largely due to gaps in water distribution.

Paddy growers like Gada Hussain Mahesar and Ishaq Mughairi reveal that during the kharif season, they opt for local varieties like DR82, DR83, irri6, KS282 etc, which need to be transplanted on time. They are cheaper at Rs1,500-2,000 per maund, as compared to hybrid seed which costs Rs1,000 to Rs1,100 per kg. Hybrid seed suits lower Sindh’s weather conditions more. But the high yielding variety is usually purchased by big farmers.

Mahesar says, “Local varieties have the potential to yield 60 maunds per acre if grown on time. Reports indicate that around 40pc of growers have resorted to late transplantation, which is bound to affect per acre yield. Only affluent growers buy hybrid seed and go for transplantation in August. But it is beyond the means for small growers to go for hybrid seed.”

The Sindh agriculture department has fixed this year’s sowing target at 700,000 hectares, against last year’s 645,000 hectares. However, paddy was cultivated on 745,539 hectares last season.

Paddy and sugarcane have made strong inroads in areas known for cotton cultivation. Official figures show that around 95,000 hectares in the exclusive cotton zone have been brought under paddy cultivation this year in seven districts — Khairpur, Ghotki, Sukkur, Naushahro Feroze, Shaheed Benazirabad, Mirpurkhas and Sanghar — which are fed by left bank canals of River Indus.

Farmers prefer paddy over cotton because it is more easily manageable, whereas market prices of cotton are also recording a decline.

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, August 25th, 2014