Casuarina growers in the district have burnt their fingers due to failure of monsoon and serious depletion in groundwater table in various parts of the district.
Interestingly, these farmers had taken to casuarina cultivation after shifting from conventional paddy or sugarcane cultivation.
One of the farmers in Viralimalai, C. Rajiv Gandhi, said he had shifted to casuarina from paddy due to shortage of water for irrigation. He said that he had raised the crop about two years ago, pinning hopes on adequate harvest.
Long-term benefits
Though raising casuarina involved intensive labour during the initial period, he preferred to switch over as he was confident of long-term benefits.
He said that casuarina had not registered adequate growth as expected.
“By this time, the trees should have grown to about six feet tall but due for want of water, the growth had been seriously affected. Further, the trees have been withering, as our endeavour to save it using the borewell has proved to be futile,” he said.
1000 hectares
According to the Agricultural Department officials, an estimated 1,000 hectares under sugarcane cultivation had been converted into casuarina fields in the past three years.
One of the main reasons was inadequate irrigation facility.
Another farmer of Narthamalai, S.M. Pannerselvam, said he had converted four acres of his sugarcane field into casuarina grove about one-and-a-half years ago.
Although he could irrigate the fields for up to seven months, it was too difficult to supply water after his borewell had dried up.
“Assured market is one of the reasons for switching over to casuarina. But, we did not expect a serious problem of this order,” the farmers added.
