Undeterred by drought-prone conditons and continuous failure of monsoon, banana cultivators in and around Musiri belt, a major banana cluster in the district, have revived their cultivation pinning hope on timely onset of monsoon this year.
“Drought-prone condition, in our experience, has been just a phenomenon and we are confident that moderate to sharp showers will come to our rescue,” say a cross section of farmers.
Madhubalan, a farmer of Aamoor near Emoor in Musiri block, said that he had raised about 1,750 plants of ‘elarasi’ banana variety on his 1.5 acres.
The borewell which was just 40 feet in depth in his field, the lone source of irrigation, had failed due to serious depletion of ground water table but he did not lose hope and drilled a new one to a depth of 120 feet.
“The quantum of flow has been less but it is quite sufficient to irrigate fields”.
The ‘elarari’ variety, with a duration of 12 months, needs periodical irrigation for at least twice a week. “Evaporation due to severe summer has been a major concern for us,” he said.
He had employed a group of farm labourers who regulate irrigation channels to all plants.
With an assured market, ‘elarasi’ banana brings prospective returns, say farmers of Musiri.
An estimated 500 acres of land had been brought under different banana varieties in and around Musiri in the last two months.
