Guwahati, Jul 24 : Rice production in 'agricultural drought' hit Assam is feared to fall up to 50 per cent if the dry spell continued, with the state already recording 34 per cent rainfall deficit till mid-July. ''Rice production is likely to be negative this year and we fear up to 50 per cent decline in rice production if the conditions do not improve,'' state Agriculture Department Minister Pramila Rani Brahma said here today. She informed that the state had recorded 40 lakh metric tonnes (MT) rice production last year against demand of 39.5 lakh MT, with the state even selling 5,000 MT to the FCI over a decade.

''We had set a target of 43 lakh MT rice production this year, but the present deficit rainfall situation makes it highly improbable of achieving the target,'' she added.

The entire state had been declared agricultural drought affected on July 21 and the agriculture department, along with related departments like irrigation and revenue, are bracing up to take on the situation on a war footing, the minister said.

She informed that all the districts have been asked to prepare and submit action plans and 11 of the 14 districts that were declared drought-hit on July 14 itself have already submitted their plans.

Action plans to the tune of about Rs 48 crore have been received so far and the agriculture department is also pursuing several schemes and measures, including providing fuel free of cost to run pump sets, Ms Brahma said.

She informed that 10 pump sets per district have already been provided and another 20 per district would be given soon.

''The Disaster Management department has provided us with Rs two crore and with the money 832 mobile pump sets would be distributed across the state,'' she added.

The minister further informed that about 12 lakh hectares paddy cultivation land out of 17 lakh hectares was expected to be covered through private and government-aided irrigational facilities and the farmers of the remaining land would be given incentives for cultivation of other crops.

Altogether 9,87,035 hectares of crop area in 9080 villages, affecting over 10 lakh population, has been damaged so far due to the prevailing drought-like situation, as per official reports received from 17 of the total 27 districts.