With 70 of the national reservoirs not being recharged sufficiently
because of monsoon failure, the agriculture ministry is concerned
at the poor prospect of the rabi crop, having realised that the kharif
crop cannot be saved now.
Due
to weak monsoon over the last four weeks (all India level at 30.14
cm as compared to an average 39.91 cm and a cumulative area weighted
rainfall that was deficient by 24 per cent below the LPA), recharging
of all major reservoirs has been “exceedingly slow,” according to
special secretary Hemendra Narayan who heads the Crop Weather Watch
Group. This has triggered off worries whether the water supply would
be sufficient to meet the needs of the rabi crop.
The south west summer monsoon plays a key role in re-energising the
ground water levels and in recharging reservoirs that keep water supply
smooth even during the rabi crop, officials point out. While the kharif-rabi
ratio, a few years ago, was 3:2, commercial crops are likely to be
more evenly distributed between the two seasons. This gave some relief
to the government.
Farm
minister Ajit Singh admits that if the recharging of reservoirs continues
to be slow and the ground water levels do not rise sufficiently, only
efficient water management could ensure a good rabi crop.
In the beginning of July, the government was apprehensive that scanty
rainfall would have more impact on poorly irrigated states of the
south and the west, growing rice, pulses, oilseeds and coarse grain.
Comparatively
better irrigation, it was felt, may spare states like Haryana and
Punjab. ICAR officials blame poor water management in recent years
for deepening of water levels in Punjab and Haryana.
This
means that tubewells have to be bored deeper every year, increasing
initial investment of Rs 60,000 at present as against Rs 20,000 a
few years ago.
According
to the stakeholder studies conducted by the Institute of Manpower
Research, farmers in Punjab are reluctant to pay for irrigation facilities,
rather they will over-invest in tractors.
In addition to the low ground water levels, a situation worsened by
the poor south west monsoons, the low storage levels in reservoirs
that irrigate the rabi crop have also set off alarm signals.
As
of July 22, the total live storage in 70 important reservoirs was
23.34 BCM, that is, only 18 per cent of the storage capacity at FRL
in comparison to the corresponding date in 2001-02.
The
storage was at 50.43 BCM, which is only 39 per cent of the storage
capacity at FRL. The storage was less than last year’s position by
27.83 BCM and less than the average of the last 10 year’s kharif season
storage level by 27.09 BCM.
The
current year’s storage is only 18 per cent of the designed utilisable
storage, 46 per cent of last year’s storage and 46 per cent of the
10 year average. Only in one project was the storage noticed at over
80 per cent.
In
7 projects, the storage was between 50-80 per cent of the designed
live storage and in 11 projects, the storage was in the 30-50 per
cent range. In all the remaining 51 projects, the storage levels stood
at less than 30 per cent.
NEW
DELHI: PRABHA JAGANNATHAN
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
[ TUESDAY, AUGUST 06, 2002 3:32:27 AM ]
