Rice production in state likely to drop by 10%

NT NETWORK
Posted on 2008-10-28
PANAJI - The rice production in the state is expected to drop by 10 per cent, this year as the rains were absent for a fortnight during the period of flowering of the rice kernel in the crop.
The sources in the department of agriculture told ‘The Navhind Times’ that the officials of the department, during their inspection visits to various rice fields around Goa, discovered that the rice kernels had failed to flower due to the dry spell at the time of their flowering.
The high temperatures above 95 degrees F accompanied by hot and dry winds during kernel development causes sun-checked kernels. “However,” the department sources maintained, “The cultivation of rice crop this season was delayed along the coastal areas of Goa and hence the rice crop in these regions will not suffer.” Rice has been the main crop of Goa. However, the shortage of employees for working in fields and exorbitant wages charged by such workers are the two main reasons, which have severely affected the rice cultivation in the state.