Paddy land is shrinking turning into a construction zone; many farmers voice concerns

MASROOR AHMAD

PULWAMA: In Kashmir, the paddy fields that provide food for the people are rapidly on decline and have been replaced by concrete constructions due to population explosion. With the increase in housing colonies and commercial complexes on agricultural land, farmers say that in future there would be little land left for agriculture activities.
Fayaz Ahmad , a farmer from Parigaam Pulwama who owns five to six kanals of paddy land said there is already less production of rice and Kashmir is dependent on other states for rice.”If the conversion continues it would have serious threat in future. When there is no paddy land where will the future generation get food. It is a big question. The government needs to be more and more vigilant and put checks on the same,” he said.
Ahsaan-ul-Haq, another farmer from Pulwama, who has completed his Masters in English before two years, said when there is no job opportunities in Government Sector, we are now fully dependent on land, we should save paddy fields for next generation because we are witnessing that the people would be in a deficit of food in future and there would be no food security and people would become more dependent. “Rice is the main food in Kashmir and there are no other crops which are used as daily food. However, the conversion of agricultural lands is occurring throughout Kashmir, which is a source of concern not just for the government but also for communities,” he said.
According to officials of the Agriculture Department Kashmir, in 2021 there was 1,41,000 hectares of paddy under cultivation in Kashmir which will decline to 1,35,000 hectares in 2022.
“The paddy land has shrunk over the years. The cropping plans of the farmers keep changing. There are many reasons why some people have turned their land into apple orchards and some have also shifted to vegetable farming,” the official said.
He said the paddy being a staple food, the department has taken many measures with which the farmers have been able to get more crop produce in the valley’s paddy fields.
However, it is a fact that conversion of agricultural lands has taken place because of rapid urbanization and implementation of developmental projects like roads, buildings, educational institutions and shopping complexes etc. Besides, there has been a large-scale shift in cultivation from agriculture crops to horticulture (orchards).which is a major concern for people
People believe that the agricultural land is shrinking at an alarming rate in Kashmir and at many places the land has been converted into commercial purposes, but many farmers told to the State Times that in coming days we are going to change orchards into paddy fields as we are facing shortage of food grains.
Experts said if the land conversion continues with present pace a time would come there will be very less paddy land for cultivation.