Kashmir witnessed bumper paddy crop, symbol of relief & happiness for farmers

SHAKEELA ANDRABI

SRINAGAR: Autumn marks period of traditional harvesting in Kashmir. The harvesting season of paddy crop is in full swing here in north and central Kashmir and farmers are joyous after harvesting a bumper crop this year, thanks to better weather conditions. The paddy farmers said that subsidy provided by the government on fertilisers helped them get good quality and high quantity of paddy production this year. Paddy is harvested on approximately 1.40 lakh hectares of land, which constitutes 28 percent of the total agricultural land in Kashmir. There is no doubt that Jammu and Kashmir is becoming poorer in terms of agriculture land as more than 80 perc ent of agricultural land in south Kashmir has been converted for horticulture purpose, while North and Central Kashmir, on the other hand have had a crop. “The government gave subsidies for buying fertilizers. Our livelihood depends on paddy farming,” said a farmer resident of central Kashmir of Chadoora Tehsil, adding, “We are getting a lot of benefits due to the subsidy received from the Agriculture Department on fertilizers.” The farmers said that this year, due to sufficient rainfall, farmers were very happy as they were harvesting a bumper crop.
Director Agriculture Kashmir Chowdhary Mohammad Iqbal told STATE TIMES correspondent, “Although agriculture land is shrinking but we are trying to get quality and good quantity of grain and this year farmers have got a bumper crop after 15 years. We are very happy and satisfied with that, our continuous efforts that our agriculture land is becoming more productive and fertile. As Director Agriculture department, I will admit that conversion of farm lands is happening across Kashmir which is a cause of concern not only for the government but for locals as well. We can make houses at any place, even in mountains, but agricultural land is limited.”
Earlier in April, the Irrigation and Flood Control Department advised the farmers to avoid sowing paddy owing to a dry spell. An official said that the Irrigation and Flood Control Department had apprehensions of dry weather in certain areas of Sopore, Kupwara, and Anantnag. Usually, the harvesting is heavily dependent on non-local labourers who remained unavailable during the last two years due to COVID-19 pandemic.