Silchar: With monsoon-dependent fields greening across Sribhumi, the agriculture department is targeting a bumper sali paddy harvest this kharif season.The department aims to cultivate around 59,000 hectares and produce nearly 24.5 lakh quintals, subject to favourable weather.District agriculture officer Shafiqul Islam said seedling transplantation covered about 60% of the targeted area. The department distributed 280 quintals of high-yielding CR 310 paddy seeds and established demonstration plots across nearly 700 hectares.Islam and assistant agriculture inspectors Bidyutkanti Paul and Pranojit Das inspected several plots to assess crop health and advise farmers.“Except for some adverse weather, there has been no major crop damage during the current kharif season so far. If no major natural calamity strikes, we are hopeful of achieving our production target,” Islam said.Following encouraging yields from CR 310 last year, its cultivation has been expanded to all agriculture development officer circles. Farmers are also receiving seedling-treatment inputs, including Zinc Solubilizing Phosphate and Trichoderma, subsidised spraying machines and free sesame, pigeon pea and black gram seeds.Sribhumi has around 52,590 marginal, small and medium farmers, of whom nearly 21,000 are registered with the department. Only about 8,000 have crop insurance. Islam urged others to enrol before the August 31 deadline.Farmers, however, remain concerned about inadequate irrigation. They said nearly 95% of farmland depends entirely on monsoon rainfall, with irrigation covering only 5%.Growers alleged that recurring dry spells damage sali and winter crops, while successive govt schemes and funds have failed to provide reliable irrigation. They said long-term yield stability would remain difficult without substantial improvements in water management.
