Floods, Urbanization Eat Into Assam’s Rice Fields

By Samudra Gupta Kashyap

Farmers plough a paddy field in Mayong, about 50 km east of Guwahati.

Guwahati, Jan 29 : The total area under rice cultivation in Assam, which registered a bumper record production of 40.7 lakh metric tones of rice in 2008-09 — an all-time high — has been shrinking over the past decade and more. From 26.46 lakh hectares in 2000-2001, it dwindled to 24.84 lakh hectares in 2008-09, with the state having the lowest area under rice cultivation — 21.90 lakh hectares — during 2006-07.

Likewise, the rice yield has also witnessed a sharp downward trend in the past one decade, coming down from 39.98 lakh metric tones in 2000-2001 to an all-time low of 29.10 lakh metric tones in 2006-07.

“This is definitely a worrisome development despite the fact that we created a record of sorts by producing 40.7 lakh metric tones. We are worried with the trend that we experienced till 2007-08,” said Pramila Rani Brahma, state agriculture minister.

Brahma cites four major reasons behind the decrease in rice growing area as well as production.

“While nature has been playing havoc with the Brahmaputra and several of its tributaries causing massive silt deposits on the rice fields, developmental activities too have to be held responsible for it to some extent,” she said.

The agriculture minister says construction of the four-lane East-West Corridor from Srirampur to Silchar had already reduced the cultivation area. “We have asked the Public Works Department to find out how much farm land has the National Highway Authority of India acquired for the construction of the East-West Corridor,” Brahma said.

Likewise, expansion of urban centers including Guwahati has been identified as another reason behind shrinking of rice fields.

“Establishment of industrial estates and other institutions have also cut into paddy fields. Assam does not have enough fallow land, and thus every time something new comes up, it has to be at the cost of agricultural land,” Brahma said.

People in Palashbari and Amingaon, both close to Guwahati, have been agitating against acquisition of agricultural land for setting up a BSF camp and a defense installation. A mega gas cracker project coming up in Dibrugarh district has also sparked off similar protests.

Nature’s havoc, too, has reduced large tracts of agricultural land into wasteland. With floods continuing to remain Assam’s annual scourge, Dhemaji district has turned out to be worst-hit, where over 60 per cent of the agricultural land has been devastated either by floods or by silt deposits, ranging from five to seven feet, in the past seven to eight years.

“Last year alone, over 700 hectares of agricultural land became unusable due to silt deposit. At least 10,000 hectares of land must have met the same fate in the past decade,” said Khagen Bargohain, additional deputy commissioner, Dhemaji.

Farmers in Assam grow three major varieties of rice, these being Ahu (autumn rice), Sali (winter rice) and Boro (summer rice).

“Though farmers in Assam have been traditionally used to growing only one crop a year, the government is now beginning to motivate them to go for at least two rice crops,” said agriculture minister Brahma.

Irrigation is not yet a popular concept in Assam. While canal irrigation has remained almost a non-starter, sinking several thousand shallow tube wells some 10 years ago has come as a big relief for farmers, especially in the lower Assam districts.

“Last year was a big surprise. While we could raise the area under rice cultivation from 21.90 lakh hectares in 2006-07 to 24.84 lakh hectares in 2008-09, the state did record a bumper harvest of 40.7 lakh metric tones. And this was despite a huge loss of three months due to a drought-like situation,” Brahma said.

The state government has fixed a target of 46.7 lakh metric tones for 2009-10 as well, expecting the agricultural growth rate to move up from 1.2 per cent in 2008-09 to 2.17 per cent in the current year.

Noted agricultural scientist B K Sarma said that the tendency among farmers to shift to cash crops and vegetables was also responsible for the fluctuating rice production in Assam. “Vegetables and cash crops fetch more returns while cultivation of bao paddy, a deep-water variety, has slipped sharply as farmers have also started focusing on pisciculture in the low-lying areas,” said Sarma, a former ICAR scientist, who has recently come out with a book called Rice Diversity of Northeast India.