Sunderbans puts high hopes on salt tolerant varieties of paddy
The Hindu
Ingress of saline water due to regular cyclones may result in food crisis in the region
The devastation caused by cyclone Yaas that battered coastal West Bengal in the last week of May was not in terms of loss of life but the huge ingress of saline water which affected thousands of acres of agricultural land. In the past six weeks other than distributing relief and compensating people the West Bengal government has been distributing salt tolerant varities of paddy to farmers. “We have distributed six such paddy varieties — 1,200 metric tonnes — which are tolerant to high levels of salinity,” said Sampad Ranjan Patra, Director of Agriculture. The ingress of saline water not only kills standing crops but increases salinity of the soil and makes the cultivation of regular high-yielding varieties almost impossible for the next few years. This may result in food crisis in the region which suffers natural disasters at an increased frequency.The election authorities are gearing up for the counting of votes cast in the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled to be held on June 4. The Collectors and Election Officers of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) districts said on May 23 (Thursday) that their teams were ready for the counting of votes.
Responding to the prolonged water scarcity, the residents of the area took to the streets in protest on Wednesday. The protest, which drew attention to their plight, stopped only after the intervention of the police. It was not until 1.30 p.m. that a 4000-litre tanker was finally delivered by BWSSB, providing relief to the water-starved residents.