Srinagar, Sep 03 (KNO): The prolonged dry spell has left the farmers in the Valley anxious as they are expecting low crop production this year.
The farmers from different parts of the Valley told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the crop production this year will be very low as there was no rain on time while the concerned department also failed to provide them sufficient water supply.
Ghulam Mohammad, a distraught farmer from Sanzipora area of Budgam said they repeatedly urged the concerned authorities to lower the level pump to deal with the receding water levels, but to no avail.
Abdul Aziz, a farmer from Devsar area of Kulgam said, “The paddy plants need sufficient water to grow, which was not provided on time in absence of rainfall. Such a situation has led to either dry up of paddy plants or these plants couldn’t attain the normal size.”
He said that the yield this year will be very low compared to the previous years.
“There was no rain in the summer season and our irrigation pumps were also dysfunctional due to the low level of water, which affected our crops badly,” he said.
A farmer from Qazigund said, “We lost the paddy fields due to low rainfall from the last four months and no irrigation facilities.”
Director Agriculture Kashmir, Altaf Aijaz Andrabi said that as estimated, only five to six per cent damage has occurred to the crops this year due to the less rainfall.
He said damage was mostly in Kandi belts while damage in plains was very less. “The maize crops have got mainly damaged in these areas,” he added—(KNO)