More area is expected to come under cultivation in the district by March 2015 when compared to last year, Department of Agriculture has predicted.
While paddy was cultivated in 35,835 hectares last year, the prediction for 2014-15 indicates that nearly 55,000 hectares of land will come under paddy cultivation by March. “We see a rise in land under cultivation because the monsoon has been favourable in the district. While the total rainfall received in 2013 was 615.72 mm, as of November 7 this year the district has received 666.92 mm,” Jaisingh Gnanadurai, Joint Director of Agriculture, said.
While the prediction for cultivation of paddy, millets, pulses, oilseeds, cotton and sugarcane for March 2015 is high when compared to March 2014, the area under cultivation till October remains low. While the area under paddy cultivation in October 2013 was 17,329 hectares, the figure for October 2014 stands at 10,877 hectares.
“Many farmers in Melur, Kottampatti and Tirumangalam are yet to start paddy cultivation since they are expecting more rains and waiting for the tanks to fill up. But with the storage in Mullaperiyar dam nearing 142 feet, many farmers in the Periyar ayacut in Melur have commenced farm activities,” Mr. Jaisingh said.
A production target of 3.16 million tonnes has been fixed for paddy cultivated in an area of 62,100 hectares. While a production target of 1.36 million tonnes has been fixed for millets raised in an area of 62,700 hectares, the target for pulses in 10,893 hectares is 8,474 million tonnes.
