Bihar govt gives free direct seeded rice to flood-affected farmers

BETTIAH: In a bid to compensate loss to farmers due to floods, the state agriculture department has allocated direct seeded rice (DSR) to be distributed among farmers in East and West Champaran districts, officials said on Tuesday.

According to officials, 4,400.725 quintals of OP variety and 287.82 quintals of hybrid variety were sent to East Champaran, while 2,000 quintals of OP variety and 100 quintals of hybrid variety of paddy seeds have been sent to West Champaran. “The need for the same was necessitated following damage of farmers’ paddy seedlings in several blocks of the district,” said Vijay Prakash, district agriculture officer (DAO), West Champaran.

As against an average rainfall of 49mm in May and 181.10mm in June, East Champaran witnessed 260.94mm and 422.20mm rainfall, respectively, causing damage to paddy seedlings spread over 6,800 hectares of land in several blocks of the district, officials said.

These blocks include Kesariya, Sangrampur, Banjariya, Safauli, Fenhara, Ramgarhwa, Raxaul, Adapur and Patahi, besides parts of Motihari, Ghodasahan and Pakaridayal.

“As of now, we have received online application from as many as 55,454 farmers across the district and 8,833 farmers have already benefitted from free seed distribution,” said district agriculture officer Chandradeo Prasad.

According to Adesh Titarmare, director, department of agriculture Patna, the state government has provided over 6,500 quintals of paddy seeds to be distributed free of cost to farmers in East and West Champaran as contingent crops.

“As a technology, direct seeded rice is being promoted in all districts. Due to recent floods and loss to seedlings, farmers are advised to adopt DSR in East and West Champaran,” he said.