Magh Bihu, also known as Bhogali Bihu is a harvest festival celebrated in Assam, which marks the end of harvesting season in the month of Magh (January–February). It is the period when the hard-working agricultural folk of Assam sit down to reap the benefits of their hard work.
Everyone celebrates the festival with great fervour, right from the smallest of villages to the big towns and cities of Assam. As the festival is celebrated across the state, what is the harvesting scenario of the state, and is cultivable land enough to produce enough food for the people of the state?
According to sources in the state Agriculture Department, the total cultivable land in the state has decreased from 31,14,408 hectares in 2016-17 to 30,76,909 hectares in 2019-2020. There is a total reduction of 37,499 hectares of cultivable land in Assam from 2016 to 2020.
In Kamrup (Metro) 460 hectares of cultivable land were reduced in the same period for various reasons.
A city-based architect and member of the Architect Association, Assam Ranel Das said that it is a logical and legal change as because of development the cultivable area in urban areas like Guwahati is decreasing.
He said previously there used to be farming at Ganeshguri, Lachit Nagar, Basistha, and many other places in Guwahati. But, gradually because of urbanisation, all these cultivable land areas were converted into concrete jungles.
“But we cannot blame anyone for this,” said Das, adding that there is a huge area of land in Assam, especially in the rural areas, which remains unused for agriculture by the people.
Das said that there is a concept of urban cultivation these days and that is mainly rooftop cultivation in urban areas. Regarding rural areas, he said that there is still huge production of agricultural products happening, and if all the unused land area is also used properly, the agricultural production will increase by many folds. “During Magh Bihu we still get all the farm products to celebrate Bihu with joy and all traditional fervours,” Das said.
According to a media report published in May 2023, over 10 lakh hectares of cultivable land in Assam remains unutilised. The media quoted the Assam Agricultural University (AAU) and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), which had mapped these unutilised or rice-fallow areas lying scattered in the state.
The AAU and IRRI have mapped rice-fallow areas in Assam from 2018-19 onwards till 2020-21, using time-series satellite data, and found that 56% to 58% of the land where rice is grown remains unutilised during winter, reported media.
The data provided by the time-series satellite data from the last three years revealed that the average rice-fallow area in Assam is around 10.34 lakh hectares with residual soil moisture, and these regions have tremendous potential for rice-based cropping systems.
Rice follows imply that lowland kharif sown rice areas remain un-cropped during rabi (winter) due to various reasons such as lack of irrigation, cultivation of long-duration varieties of rice, early withdrawal of monsoon rains leading to soil moisture stress at planting time of winter crops, water logging, and excessive moisture in November / December.
According to a report by the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (2013), India accounts for 79% (11.65 million ha) of the total rice fallows of South Asia (15.0 million ha). Rice fallows are mainly spread in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.
Media also reported that in Assam, rice is the single most important crop which occupies 2.5 million hectares of the gross cropped area of 4.16 million hectares. Rice contributes 96% of the total cereal grain production of the state. Experts feel that there are ample possibilities to further enhance the total land area and productivity of rice by bringing the unutilised area under cultivation.
Dr Ashish Kumar Bhutani, Additional Chief Secretary and agriculture production commissioner of Assam talking to GPlus said that in Assam there are some issues like rice fallow areas, moisture, rabi (winter) cultivation and so on. But he said that the government is working on all the issues and all unused land will gradually be used. He said that 175 lakh hectares of land have been used now for mustard cultivation in the last two years, and accordingly the areas where water is scarce, the irrigation solution is being provided. He said that various workshops are being organised to encourage rabi cultivation. “If the local youths support and keep cultivating, all the unused land will be used soon,” said Bhutani.
According to the Agriculture Department source rice fallows are widely distributed in the rain-fed ecosystem of Assam. The major districts having larger areas in Assam are Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Sibsagar, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Karbianglong, Nagaon, and Morigaon.
The agro-climate of Assam is characterised by a humid ecosystem with a hot summer and cool winter. The mean annual temperature varies from 24-25°C, rising to a maximum of 30-32°C in May and June, and dropping to a minimum of 10-12°C in December and January. The mean annual rainfall ranges from 1600 to 2000 mm in central Brahmaputra valley, said the Agriculture Department source.
The source also said that crop varieties especially suited for rice fallows of different regions have not been developed, and therefore, among the available varieties that have comparative advantage should be recommended. There is an acute shortage of quality seeds of recommended varieties, compelling farmers to grow low-yielding local varieties.
Rabi crops in rice fallows are considered a bonus crop. Given the risk involved in the successful cultivation of a second crop due to limiting soil moisture and likely drought situation besides socio-economic problems, farmers do not pay much attention to crop management such as choice of appropriate varieties, seed rate, pest management, rhizobial inoculation, foliar nutrition, mechanisation, etc, said the source.
Magh Bihu marks the celebration of harvesting in Assam, though the cultivable land area is decreasing the joy and fervour remain the same but one major issue remains the number of farmers is also decreasing and many people are opting out of the farming profession, said the source.
Agricultural land is not something that can disappear in thin air. It has to be converted to something else on paper. However, there is another factor for the decrease in cultivable land which is erosion.
River erosion is a huge concern in Assam. Huge areas get submerged in the river. However studies have shown that the Brahmaputra river throws up new islands every 10 to 15 years, those which we call the ‘char-chapori’ (riverine) areas.
Neither the state nor the Agriculture Department takes these fertile lands into account. Politicians end up claiming that the residents of the ‘char-Schapiro’ regions are just migrants. However many areas are occupied by indigenous people whose original land has been eroded.
So, erosion, rabi cultivation, development, and many other factors have reduced cultivation in Assam but there is still time that the scenario could be improved and we will continue to enjoy Magh Bihu every year.
