The Agriculture department has drawn up plans for a huge diversification to wean away farmers from paddy and migrate them to other crops after the government has refused to buy paddy cultivated in the rabi, whose sowings otherwise would have commenced this week.
According to the plans, the proposed potential for maize was 12 lakh acres against 4.66 lakh acres in rabi last year. Bengal gram and groundnut was fixed at 10 lakh acres each against their actual sown area of 3.54 lakh and 2.77 lakh acres respectively. Similarly, the potential for sesamum (last year 57,488 acres), green gram (35,514), black gram (48,659) and jowar (1.19 lakh) was put at 1.50 lakh acres each. Coriander was planned on one lakh acres against nil last year and castor at two lakh acres against 2,470 acres last year. Sunflower with three lakh acres (18,826) and safflower (7,590) with one lakh acres were the other targeted crops. Vegetables and other crops were expected over 3.95 lakh acres and orchard crops over 6.11 lakh acres against 1.51 lakh acres and 5.72 lakh acres respectively.
Though the department did not fix the anticipated paddy area, it was expected that farmers might still go for it in 25 to 30 lakh acres to meet their commitments with seed companies and rice mills with which they tied up, and for self- consumption. It was also said that suggested crops were never sown in such a big way in the past but whether the farmers will accept it was a big question in the minds of officials. Moreover, the sowing period for crops like bengal gram, groundnut, jowar, coriander, castor and safflower was over. The department has planned a special campaign appealing to farmers not to go for cultivation of paddy and instead suggesting them to take up the above crops. Paddy was cultivated over 52.78 lakh acres against a normal of 31 lakh acres in rabi last year.
