Assam looks at boro rice to beat floods,achieve target

Assam has been traditionally dependent on rice that grows in three distinct seasons: autumn (ahu rice),winter (sali rice) and summer (boro rice).

And since boro is one variety that ripens just ahead of the monsoon proper,the state has been trying to bring more area under the variety. “More and more farmers have taken to boro rice in the past few years. While we had only about 2.34 lakh hectares under boro cultivation in 2004-05,its acreage this season is about 3.25 lakh hectares,” Brahma said.

The production of boro rice has also gone up steadily in the past five or six years. In 2004-05,Assam produced about 6.10 lakh tonnes of boro rice. This has gone up to 7.72 lakh tonnes in 2008-09,and is expected to touch eight lakh tonne when the current crop will be harvested.

While cultivation of paddy in Assam has come under the National Food Security Mission (NFSM) since the rabi season of 2007-08,it is the sali rice that covers about 70 per cent of the state’s total rice-growing area. The boro and ahu varieties till two years ago together covered the remaining 30 per cent area.

With the intervention of NFSM,however,the area under boro crop is likely to expand to about 34 per cent in the next couple of years.

“The increase in boro area has been deliberately done in order to avoid floods as well as the drought-like situation or compensate for both situations,the two extremes having already caused a lot of panic in the past two or three years,” said an official in the state agriculture department.

The NFSM for rice also intends to take up the Assam’s rice productivity level close to the national average of 2,131 kg per hectare. Assam’s average per hectare yield,which is now 1,638 kg,was only 1,438 kg before the NFSM intervention was launched.

While NFSM for rice covers 13 districts of the state,five districts,namely Darrang,Goalpara,Morigaon,Nagaon and Nalbari,have already surpassed the state’s average per hectare rice yield,the official said.

Assam,which had remained a rice-deficit state for several decades,became self-sufficient for the first time in 2000-01 when the state government launched a vigorous campaign to install shallow tube wells. While that year itself registered a record 39.98 lakh metric tonne rice output,the rice production subsequently fluctuated,coming down to an alarming 29.16 lakh metric tonnes in 2006-07.

“But despite all odds,our agricultural growth rate has improved,from minus 0.27 per cent in 2007-08 to 1.2 per cent in

2008-09. This year we have set a target of recording a 2.17 per cent growth rate,and our farmers are determined to achieve it,” said Brahma.

The Assam Agricultural University (AAU) at Jorhat is also playing a big role in helping the state achieve the targeted growth rate. Known for its innovations in the field of high-yielding rice varieties,AAU has recently introduced three new boro varieties — Dinanath,Swarnabh and Kanaklata,all of which have a cycle ranging from 160 to 170 days.