A farmer in India's northeast Assam state surveys his drought-stricken rice field. Photo: Anupam Nath By Amarjyoti Borah
Guwahati, Assam : Five consecutive years of rainfall shortages have hit farmers in India's normally lush northeastern state of Assam hard. Last year the state, known for its sprawling tea estates and rice fields, was declared drought-stricken after receiving just 65 percent of its normal rainfall through July, the peak growing season.
In late 2008 and early 2009, rainfall was just 35 percent of normal, and the state saw its first dust storms in memory.
"There has been a trend in the region toward an increase in spells of dryness as well as wetness, towards extremes. This shows climate change is taking place," said Dulal Goswami of the environmental department at Guawahati University in Assam's capital city.
The farm economy, the driving economic force of the state, has been worst hit. Assam has 2.6 million hectares (6.4 million acres) of cultivable land, much of it rain-fed. With nearly half of farmland drought-affected, fields have been too hard and dry to till in many areas.
In others, farmers saw incomes plunge after being forced to invest heavily in irrigation to keep their crops alive.
INCOMES FALLING
"I had to spend Rs. 1400 ($31) on diesel to irrigate ... but (for previous crops) I had to spend only Rs. 800 ($17)," said Kanti Das, a farmer in Nagaon district. To help make up the deficit, his wife has had to turn to work as a domestic servant in the area. Dubai Borah, a farmer in Kamalabari village, had to sell the pair of bullocks he uses to cultivate his field in order to feed his family.
"Now I need to buy another pair of bullocks to cultivate my field. I am planning to sell off a portion of my land to get the money for the bullocks," Borah said. Borah said the situation has shaken families in the region because "marginal farmers like us are solely dependent on the produce from our fields."
State agriculture officials last April predicted that yields from the winter rice crop, planted mid-year, would be high enough to make up earlier production deficits. But continuing drought dashed those hopes.
The state has yet to release yield reports but officials say they will be lower than expected. "We were hopeful of making up the losses but the drought has shattered us completely," Borah said. "Earlier I used to earn a minimum of Rs. 20000 ($440) in this season but this time it will not be more than Rs. 4000 ($90)."
He said averting such problems in the future will require greater investment in irrigation. "The magnitude of the calamity could have been reduced if there were proper irrigation facilities in the state to take care of water needs," Borah said.
IRRIGATION PROJECTS INCOMPLETE
Currently, almost half of the total irrigation projects in Assam are not functional. According to P.C Barua, a retired engineer from the Assam irrigation department, only 690 of the 1300 schemes implemented by the department are working.
According to officials of the irrigation department, most of the projects are unfinished due to lack of funds. In July last year, Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, a farmers organization in Assam, staged several protests demanding functional irrigation facilities across the state.
"Assam has received deficit rainfall for several years, and it could happen in the future as well. The permanent solution is proper irrigation facilities," said Akhil Gogoi, the secretary of the organization. Declining rainfall has dramatically cut rice production in the state.
"Only 50 percent of the 3.9 million tonnes of rice needed to meet demand in the state could be produced this year," said Pramila Rani Brahma, Assam's agriculture minister, at the end of 2009.
The minister said 1.3 million hectares (3.2 million acres) of cropland out of 2.6 million in the state had been affected by lack of rainfall and there had been a 30 percent fall in overall agriculture production in the state for the year 2009.
Lalit Saikia, a PhD student at the Indian Institute of Technology who has been analyzing rainfall in the state, said the trend toward decreased rainfall is evident and "alarming." Assam's neighbouring states of Manipur and Nagaland were also declared drought zones in 2009.
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