DINDIGUL: From the beginning of this calendar year, till date, the district has been deprived of the normal rainfall, which it should have received.
Sharing the information at the farmers’ grievance redressal meeting here on Friday, Collector T.G. Vinay said that against the normal rainfall of 771.10 mm, the district had received only 418.83 mm, leaving a deficit of 352.17 mm.
Usually, during summer — from March to May — the district should have received 155.1 mm. However, this time, it had actually received only 92.27 mm.
There was no relief. The worst was waiting. The dry spell continued. With the south-west monsoon from June-September, the district, which should have received 218.3 mm rainfall, got only 136.46 mm, thus leaving a deficit of 81.84 mm.
And with north-east monsoon too failing to bring rains, a majority of the farmers were unable to achieve their planned production.
As the yield was poor, there were difficulties in selling their produce. Against a normal rainfall of 417.29 mm, there was just 192.61 mm rain.
In November, the district should have received 163.8 mm rainfall, but the actual rain data indicated at 35.74 mm only. With just five days left, the month may finish with a deficit of 128.06 mm rain.
Irrigation wells
The district, according to agriculture department officials, has 91,488 irrigation wells. Out of this, 40 per cent of the wells had water, that could be pumped out for an hour or two, while the rest 60 per cent was almost heading for a bone-dry situation.
The Collector appealed to the farmers to ensure that the crops were insured.
The Agriculture Insurance Company of India Limited has been assigned with the task of insuring the crops for the district, Dr. Vinay added.
According to a press release, the storage level at the reservoirs in the district was far from encouraging. Except for Marudanadhi and Varadamanadhi, all other dams had poor storage.
Appeal
The Horticulture department and Animal Husbandry department officials too appealed to the farmers to avoid raising paddy and instead look for crops which required very little water.
