Rainfall deficit, receding canal water deepen worries of Kashmir’s rice farmers

By 2023, the area of paddy cultivation had shrunk by over 33,000 hectares—about 81,249 acres—leaving just 129,000 hectares devoted to rice farming | Photo Credit: IMRAN NISSAR

Last season, Muzaffar Ahmad, a farmer from Pahoo in Pulwama, located some 32 km south of Srinagar, did not harvest his paddy crop after torrential rains in September triggered floods that flattened the fields and buried vast stretches of farmland along the banks of the Jhelum River under thick layers of silt. Farmers were forced to abandon the entire crop.

This season, they have begun preparing their fields again, but an unusual rainfall deficit and drying irrigation canals have left them deeply worried about the upcoming crop.

“Irrigation channels in our area have begun drying up,” Ahmad said, adding that farmers have been forced to use water pumps to draw water for their fields well before sowing. 

Since March 1 this year, the Union Territory has recorded a 26 per cent deficit in seasonal rainfall. The Valley’s major rice-producing districts have been among the worst affected, with Kulgam — regarded as the rice bowl of Kashmir — witnessing a 53 per cent rainfall deficit, followed by Anantnag at 46 per cent and Budgam at 40 per cent.

Farmers said the combined impact of last year’s flood damage and the current dry spell has disrupted the agricultural cycle, increasing dependence on costly pumping systems and raising fears of reduced yields if the dry conditions persist into the critical growing months.

“Last year, we suffered huge losses. We could not even recoup the input costs as the floods damaged the entire crop,” said Ali Mohammad, another farmer from Anantnag district, adding that he fears this year’s rainfall deficit and drying irrigation channels may once again put the crop at risk.

He said paddy land has already been shrinking as people increasingly shift towards apple cultivation, and added that the prevailing water stress could further accelerate this trend.

According to official data, Kashmir had nearly 162,000 hectares under paddy cultivation in 2012. By 2023, that area had shrunk by over 33,000 hectares—about 81,249 acres—leaving just 129,000 hectares devoted to rice farming.

Farmers and experts warned that unless irrigation infrastructure is strengthened and climate variability is addressed, the twin pressures of recurring extreme weather events and declining water availability could further undermine paddy cultivation, pushing more farmers away from traditional rice farming in the Valley.

Published on May 11, 2026