Moa Jamir
Deficient rainfall in Nagaland has hugely impacted farm production and has increased the probability of water shortage during the upcoming dry winter season. The Morung Express has highlighted the issue in a two-part series in the last week of August.
Citing IMD data, the reports informed that till during June 1-August 26 period, the State had recorded deficient rainfall of -24%, receiving 662 millimetres (mm) against the normal range of 875.3 mm. The South West Monsoon (SWM) in India usually runs from June 1- September 30 period, the rainiest season.
According to Indian Metrological Department’s (IMD) classification, rainfall up to -59% to -20% is designated ‘Deficient’ while rainfall ranging from -19% to 19% is considered ‘Normal.’ Large Deficient ranges from 99% to -60% while Excess and Large Excess respectively are 20% to 59% and 60% or more.
As the SWM enters into the last month of this season, the rainfall data has not improved and seems to be deteriorating further. On September 6, the cumulative deficient rainfall in Nagaland was -25% and out of 11 districts under observation, the IMD data informed that 7 were deficient, ranging from -26 in Wokha to -54% in Dimapur. Out of four districts experiencing ‘Normal’ rainfall, only 1 district (Kiphire) received 1% extra rainfall from the usual volume.
Delineation of the September month from the cumulative data indicated that the deficit may further increase as the SWM ends. From September 1-6, as per the IMD, ‘Deficient’ rainfall in Nagaland stood at -49%, with 6 districts falling in the category of ‘Large Deficient’ ranging from -67% in Zunheboto to -91% in Kiphire. Besides, 3 other districts were in the negative zone ranging from -32% in Wokha to -48% in Dimapur. Only Peren (-3%) had ‘Normal’ rain while Mokokchung is shown to have received ‘Excess’ rain of 47%.
On June 17, the Department of Agriculture (DoA) Nagaland informed of a “drought-like situation” due to deficient and erratic rains from December 2020 to April 2021, maintaining that with at least 70% of the State’s farmers involved in Jhum cultivation, agriculture and horticulture crops have been adversely affected.
Over two months later, Jhum cultivators are reporting a lower yield of rice, the staple food in Nagaland as well as other crops while for the Terrace Rice cultivation (TRC)/Wet Rice Cultivation (WRC), a season was ‘lost’ and they are staring at an uncertain next season, the series had noted.
The collective impact may be much more. For instance, the Nagaland Statistical Handbook 2020 informed that the area under cultivation of Jhum Paddy in the State was 90,830 hectare in 2019-20; while the area under W/TRC Paddy stood at 1,26,120 hectare.
The DoA in July itself informed that deficient rainfall has ‘directly resulted in poor germination and wilting of crops and 72,664 hectares (Ha) of jhum fields covering 915 villages were affected.’ It translates to 80% of the total area under ‘Jhum Paddy’ cultivation in 2019-20.
In addition, only 40% of transplanting in the targeted area under W/TRC has been achieved, it noted.
A farmer in Mon district then told this newspaper that he harvested “just 20-30 baskets (a local measuring method), against the normal yield of around 80 baskets” during the current season, implying a 60-70% decline in productivity. As per his account, many villagers reported similar outcomes.
With multiple cropping as a unique feature of Jhum, the collateral damages must be much higher, with farmers informing that even the yield of relatively drought-resistant millet production were affected.
On the other end, deficient rainfall may result in lower replenishment of water bodies as well as groundwater, with even Nagaland’s sole water reservoir reporting a lower volume of storage than the annual 10-year average so far according to the Central Water Commission (CWC). According to the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), Nagaland is among 14 states/union territories where the “contribution in Annual Ground Water Recharge from rainfall during monsoon season” was more than 70%.” Consequently, the probability of water scarcity is also quite high.
As apparent from the DoA and Allied Department’s activities, the State Government is aware of the situation. Reportedly, the DoA’s is still assessing the magnitude of the impact of the "drought-like situation" and no direct relief had been provided so far. This should be accelerated.
Most measures so far are preventive measures, in case of future eventualities, devoid of any concrete steps for those already affected in the current year. Again, it appears that the State Government is also waiting for some sort of relief from the Union Government before announcing anything on its own. The State Government needs to act on its own and provide immediate relief to the farmers.
For any feedback, drop a line to jamir.moa@gmail.com
