Kulgam district, once known as the Rice Bowl of Kashmir, has lost 29 percent of its paddy land in the last five years, experts believe its primarily due to farmers switching to apple orchards.
An official from the Kulgam agriculture office said that the district had 16,000 hectares of paddy land in 2018-19, which decreased to 11,354 hectares by 2022-23. This means that 4,646 hectares of paddy land have been converted to other types of farming.
Manzoor Ahmad, an expert in the field, said that the primary factor behind the rapid conversion is that people are going from paddy to orchards which is because apple orchards fetch more revenue for them.
He warned that this shift might not be sustainable in the long run, as irrigated land converted to orchards tends to develop root rot disease within just five years.
“In the first three to four years, paddy land converted to apple orchards runs smoothly, but later it develops root rot, and the farmers have to seek remedies for the disease,” he added.
Ahmad said that Kulgam, once known as the Rice Bowl, now faces a rice deficit. He suggested that a bill should be introduced to regulate conversions and strict guidelines should be established to reduce the rate of conversion.
According to the ‘Digest of Statistics’ released by Directorate of Economics and Statistics the total cultivated area under paddy in Kulgam was 12,979 hectares in 2015-16, which decreased to 7,507 hectares in 2022-23.
“The data suggests that the district has lost 57.83 percent of its paddy land to conversion, mostly to apple orchards, with some hectares converted to other uses, including commercial structures in last eight years,” he added.
Similarly, the J&K Government’s Vision Document 2047 reveals that Kulgam has 11,354 hectares of rice cultivation area, producing 61,198 metric tons. However, the district’s requirement is 75,670 metric tons, resulting in a deficiency of 14,472 metric tons.
Prof. Tasneem Mubarak, Chief Scientist (Agronomy) posted at Mountain Research Center for Field Crops- SKUAST Kashmir said that the decreasing trend is a matter of concern. He said that having diverse crops is really important as mono cropping may lead to problems like widespread of diseases and pests associated with a specific crops.
“I believe farmers should follow integrated farming system where we have agriculture crops, horticulture and animal components. Wherein resources are recycled, costs of cultivation are reduced and simultaneously we can sustain soil health, better yields and good quality of produce and also increase profitability. Farmer can get a good idea of integrated farming with improved crop components at different Krishi Vigyan Kendras near to them,” he added.
Reyaz Ahmad, District Agriculture Officer, Kulgam, told Rising Kashmir that he isn’t aware of the data from the Digest of Statistics. However, according to the agriculture department, the paddy fields in 2022-23 cover 11,354 hectares in Kulgam.
He denied that paddy land is decreasing day by day, noting instead that people have prioritized agriculture since last year with the introduction of HADP.
“The agriculture department has introduced new innovations in the paddy and agriculture sectors to counter the growing trend. The Agriculture Department and SKUAST-Kashmir have introduced the SR4 variety, which gives better paddy production,” he said.
He also said that the agriculture department has made efforts to promote horizontal expansion, wherein one kanal of land is converted into four kanals. The aim is to make people aware that paddy land is decreasing due to constructions (structures), roads, and other factors, and that they can use this horizontal expansion farming.
“People shouldn’t practice converting paddy fields into orchards because basic needs cannot be changed. A country somewhere did so in the past, but they failed miserably. A paddy land converted into orchards is more prone to disease,” he added.
BLURB….. Conversion primarily shifted to apple orchards for better remuneration than paddy: Experts Vision Document 2047: Kulgam faces 14,472 metric ton rice deficiency despite 11,354 hectares under cultivation.
