Ministry of Agriculture asks flood-affected paddy farmers in Udupi to switch to short-term crop varieties during the remaining kharif period

Heavy rains and July floods in Udupi damaging paddy seedlings, transplanted to 186 hectares, Department of Agriculture suggested farmers to switch to short term crop varieties to grow paddy during kharif period remaining.

According to the department, farmers can transplant seedlings of Jyothi and Uma paddy varieties.

H. Kempe Gowda, Deputy Director of Agriculture, Udupi, said The Hindu Jyothi variety can be harvested in 100-105 days of transplanting and Uma variety can be harvested in 110 days of transplanting.

Seeds of both varieties are available from raitha sampark kendras and farmers, whose plantations have been affected, can replant after growing their seedlings.

The co-director said that a majority of farmers request seeds of paddy variety MO 4 for kharif cultivation every year. The crop of this variety can be harvested after 135–145 days of transplanting seedlings. Thus, farmers affected by the floods can now replant the seedlings of the short-term varieties.

Mr Gowda said paddy seedlings had been planted out on around 14,000 hectares in the district when heavy rains and floods hit a few days ago. Rainwater stagnated on about 3,000 hectares of rice fields. In some of these fields, the farmers had not yet transplanted the seedlings.

He said the seedlings were only damaged if the water stood still for more than six days. Otherwise, the seedlings will recover once the water is removed.

The flood resistant Sahyadri Panchamukhi variety withstood water for 10 days.

Paddy was grown on about 37,700 hectares in the district in the 2021 kharif season. The cultivation target this year was 38,000 hectares.

Many farmers in the district grew local varieties of ‘kaje’ such as Karkala kaje and others.