53-day-long dry spell leaves cultivated fields parched in Solan district

Innovations in the field of agriculture have become imminent with post monsoon months invariably remaining dry in the region. In the Solan region the last rainfall of 63.3 mm was received on September 19. Since then the state has received no rain.

The first fortnight of November has gone dry. This prolonged 53-day of dry spell has left the cultivated fields parched. The long dry spell with high evaporation rate and a wide gap between day and night temperatures has created water stress conditions in the state, said Dr Satish Bhardwaj, Head of Department of Environmental Science, Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni.

The dry conditions have delayed normal sowing of wheat crop. The vegetable crops of rabi season like cabbage, cauliflower, peas and garlic rely heavily on adequate soil moisture for their growth. However the lack of rainfall induced water scarcity may affect these commercial crops grown in the region.

“Insufficient soil moisture during prevailing dry spell may also affect apple saplings by hindering their root development, limiting the uptake of essential nutrients and making them more susceptible to diseases,” said a farm scientist.

The post monsoon, October and November months in the state generally experience scant rains and these months invariably go dry. Therefore, there is urgent need to enhance water availability during these months for meeting requirement of agriculture sector for sustaining production and livelihood of the farmers. “For better resilience, farmer need to leave mono-cropping type of farming and should switch to multi-enterprise based cropping system. They need to adopt latest innovative technologies to enhance water productivity,” suggested Dr Bhardwaj.

The farmers in the state should adopt horticulture crop based agroforestry models for enhancing resilience to such vagaries of weather. Such agroforestry crop models make soil more drought resilient by enhancing water retention.

Large areas in the state are under rainfed farming despite presence of abundant water resources which remain underutilized. Adoption of small scale irrigation farming in the state may significantly enhance crop productions on sustainable basis, added the scientist.