Dry weather hits sowing season in Kashmir

Srinagar: Dry weather conditions in spring has left farmers worried in Kashmir as according to them it will directly affect irrigation and dwindle the annual produce.
Farmers from different areas of Kashmir told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that they are in dilemma whether to sow seeds or not as there has been no rains in the spring.
“We always face dual threats. If it doesn’t rain for long, it leads to drought and if it rains for a day or two continuously, it leads to floods,” they said.
Currently, all standing crops are in need of water supply but there are no irrigation facilities and crops are getting affected, they added.
Officials told KNO that if dry weather continues for around one more month, it will be very difficult to provide water to farmers as entire agricultural land hasn’t irrigation facilities available in Kashmir.
Several departments are in touch in this regard and if the same weather conditions persist for a few more weeks, the government may issue an advisory to farmers to different areas not to sow paddy this year. This can be a setback to farmers whose livelihood is dependent on it.
Meanwhile Director Agriculture Choudhary Mohammad Iqbal told KNO that presently wherever there are no irrigation facilities available to peas and other crops, production gets affected.
“If it rains in the coming week, it won’t affect our production so much but presently our major concern is that all glaciers have melted and all the water has gone into sea so the coming agriculture season will be harsh,” he said.
Over 1 lakh 41 thousand hectare land is covered with paddy besides maize and vegetables. “If there will be no rains, it will definitely get affected but if there will be rain in the coming week then all can go well as we have the right time yet,” he said.
“We have taken meetings at the Directorate of Agriculture and SKUAST and what preventive measures will be proposed for people and what precautions they need to take besides what will be our short term plan,” he said, and an advisory for farmers will be issued within a day—(KNO)