Rasulpur,Sept 23 [UDN}:: Continuous rainfall triggered by a low-pressure system has hampered preparations for the upcoming Rabi season in Rasulpur block of Jajpur district, causing concern among farmers whose agricultural fields were recently affected by floods.
Rasulpur block is surrounded by the Brahmani River to the south and its distributary, the Kharasrota River, to the north. Except for a few panchayats located in the interior areas of the block, most of the panchayats are situated along the embankments of the two rivers. The fertile agricultural land along the riverbanks provides favourable conditions for cultivation and enables farmers to grow a variety of crops depending on the nature of their farmland.
During the Kharif season, farmers generally cultivate vegetables on relatively higher land and paddy on low-lying agricultural fields. After harvesting short-duration paddy varieties, they usually begin preparing their fields for Rabi crops.
However, this year, flooding in both the Brahmani and Kharasrota rivers severely affected agricultural activities in the region. Of the 28 panchayats in Rasulpur block, agricultural fields in 22 panchayats and 108 revenue villages were affected by the floods. Vegetable crops as well as paddy fields were washed away or damaged by the floodwaters, causing substantial losses to farmers.
After the floodwater receded, water gradually drained from the agricultural fields. Farmers had begun to regain hope after two days of bright sunshine earlier this week, as the dry weather appeared favourable for drying out their fields and beginning preparations for the Rabi season.
However, the situation has deteriorated again over the past three to four days due to continuous rainfall and overcast weather. The prolonged wet conditions following the floods have once again left agricultural land unsuitable for field preparation, making it difficult for farmers to start cultivation of Rabi crops.
The situation has increased the worries of flood-affected farmers, who are hoping that the weather will improve soon. They are waiting for their fields to dry so that they can cultivate Rabi crops and recover at least a portion of the losses suffered during the floods. Their plans and hopes for the coming agricultural season are now closely dependent on weather conditions.
Rasulpur block is known as one of the important vegetable-producing areas of Jajpur district. Large quantities of vegetables produced in the region are transported to markets such as Barabati, Sahapur, Kuakhia and the daily vegetable market at Jajpur Road. From these markets, vegetables are supplied not only to different parts of Odisha but also exported to other states.
Besides the major markets, vegetables produced by local farmers are sold at weekly markets in areas such as Haripur, Madhuban, Nathuabera, Brahmabarada, Bandhadih and Jalan. These markets meet the vegetable requirements of people in Rasulpur block as well as neighbouring blocks.
Keeping the upcoming Rabi season in mind, farmers have already started making preparations. For Rabi vegetable cultivation, farmers have begun raising seedlings of crops such as cabbage, cauliflower, brinjal, beans and chilli. Once the fields are sufficiently dry and prepared, they plan to begin transplanting the seedlings.
Farmers are also planning to prepare their fields for the cultivation of okra, ridge gourd, cucumber, pointed gourd, bitter gourd and potato, among other crops.
However, the prevailing erratic weather conditions are proving to be a major obstacle to these agricultural activities. Farmers are now waiting for favourable weather so that they can resume field preparation and begin their Rabi cultivation on time.
The extent to which weather conditions will support agricultural activities in the coming days remains to be seen. For now, farmers in the flood-affected areas of Rasulpur are keeping their fingers crossed for dry and favourable weather to begin the next crop cycle and compensate for the losses suffered during the floods.
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