Kishanganj poised for bumper paddy crop

KISHANGANJ: If everything goes well and nature continues to remain benevolent, Kishanganj district is poised for a bumper paddy crop this season despite some nagging monsoon irritants during the peak paddy transplantation time.
Out of a total farmland area of 1.22 lakh hectare, 83,500 hectares of the cropland was brought under paddy cultivation this season hitting the farm officials’ projected target.Though monsoon had played a real hide-and-seek game during the peak paddy transplantation period in July, the rain god subsequently relented.
“As the monsoon had begun to play truant, we had also prepared to extend diesel subsidies to bail out the cultivators. In all, 14,779 farmers were given diesel subsidies to the tune of Rs96.61 lakh across the district,” district agriculture officer (DAO) Anil Yadav said. The district of Kishanganj still lacks the basic irrigation facilities though the district has traditionally been acclaimed as an agricultural hinterland notwithstanding the fact that it is criss-crossed by a slew of rivers. “We are always dependent on the monsoon for all kinds of crops like paddy and jute and lately maize as well,” says Giasuddin, a progressive farmer of Belwa.
Even as jute farming, the area under jute cultivation has progressively been declining with each passing year across the district, is rapidly losing its charm and failing to attract the farmers, the cultivators have not as yet given up the cultivation. The maize cultivation, which has emerged as the real cash crop, is fast catching up with the farmers’ imagination across the district, said Manzar Alam of Shimalbari.