Paddy farming takes a beating due to poor rainfall in northern plains

Sherpuri Goswami owns slightly more than a hectare of land and is a “small” farmer. The landholding is not enough to meet the needs of his family of 18, and the 53-year-old farmer from Nadiyali village in Haryana has taken eight hectares on lease on which he has planted paddy, the most important kharif, or monsoon, crop of India, a global leader in rice exports.

“I pay Rs 50,000 per acre per year for the land I take on lease, along with my four brothers, to grow paddy in kharif and wheat in rabi season,” Goswami tells Mongabay India.

But with each passing day, his worries multiply as half the monsoon season is over, and there is no rain. Paddy, one of the most water-intensive crops, needs timely and sufficient rainfall.

“I planted paddy in the first week of July using water from tubewell [groundwater] and was hoping for a good harvest. But there has been no rainfall,” said the farmer.

The website of the India Meteorological Department, the country’s official weather forecasting agency, shows a deficient monsoon rainfall of -18% in Haryana as of August 13. In the Ambala district, where Goswami’s village is located, the rainfall is -29%. It was 46% below normal until August 8.

“It’s been a series of losses for us. Last year in...

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