Farming against odds

In spite of good rain forecast, non-payment of govt. benefits and bank credit in time and COVID-19 situation are not helping the farmers’ cause

With the onset of monsoon, the farmers in the State have commenced agricultural operations even as the Meteorological Department’s forecast of a normal monsoon in 2021 has kindled hopes of a good kharif crop. Farmers have started preparing land and raising paddy nurseries, from where saplings will be transplanted to fields. Usually, the transplantations are done by the second week of June. Tilling operations are going on at a brisk pace in some parts of the State where farmers are dependent upon canal irrigation. The land has been prepared in places where farmers go for rain-fed crops. The targeted area of cultivation for kharif 2021 is 94.20 lakh acres, 4% more than that of 2020 (90.86 lakh acres). The Annual Credit Plan for 2021-22 is proposed to be more than ₹1.48 lakh crore.