Aurangabad: Rampant farming in wetlands may stand as an obstacle in the state government’s initiative of cultivating fodder in dry reservoirs and tank-beds to tide over the imminent crisis of feed for livestock.District level authorities from the animal husbandry department have identified around 60 sites for cultivation of maize, sorghum and pearl millet which can produce fodder, most of which have been occupied by locals for growing sugarcane, watermelon and muskmelon among other crops.While the last date for accepting applications from interested farmers ends on Tuesday, a herculean task awaits the state government to successfully implement the drought-specific initiative of fodder cultivation amid rampant wetland farming.Aurangabad district deputy commissioner of the animal husbandry department B D Rajaput said on Monday said that details regarding the availability of wetland in the district and its existing status have been sought from the irrigation department. “Cultivation of fodder in the identified areas assumes top priority. If wetland farming is already being carried out in these areas without official permission, legitimate action will be taken,” he said.The animal husbandry department has been given a target to cultivate fodder on wetlands with minimum 2,000 hectares in every district with free seeds and water to be offered to farmers.Talking about selection of beneficiary farmers in case multiple applications pour in for the same land, authorities said project affected people would be considered on a priority basis, besides other screening norms. In order to encourage farmers to become a part of the initiative, the government has decided to offer wetland farming to farmers at a nominal rate of Re 1.“The irrigation department should consider allowing reservoir and tank beds under its control to be leased out for cultivating grasses and seasonal fodder crops for a short term. The collector, with the permission of the irrigation department, could lease out the reservoir and tank bed land on short-term lease subject to the condition that the lessees grow fodder crop therein and agree to sell the grass / fodder to needy farmers at a price to be fixed by the collector,” reads the latest government resolution quoting the directives from the Centre. As far as Aurangabad district is concerned, drought of ‘severe’ nature has been announced in all nine talukas.Deepak Joshi, a progressive farmer from Paithan taluka, said that rural areas are facing the heat of fodder crisis for livestock. “The district authorities will have a tough time implementing the government directive of fodder cultivation in wetlands as many of them are being used by locals for farming. A major conflict may ensue between the locals and the government machinery if the initiative is implemented religiously,” he said.Taking note of previous experiences of large-scale financial irregularities in fodder camps for livestock, this year the government has decided to directly deposit the money into the farmers’ bank accounts towards fodder purchase.The arrangement, however, will not be able to address the issue of dearth of fodder due to drought. As reported by TOI recently, no sowing has taken place over 70% of the target agricultural area during the current rabi season.

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