THANJAVUR
Fearing depletion of groundwater resources as summer progresses in the days ahead, farmers in the traditional old aycut areas of the delta region in Thanjavur district have advanced the kuruvai paddy cultivation this season. Transplantation has already been completed on close to 15,000 hectares and is expected to cap 34,000 hectares by June.
Normally, farmers in the old aycut region of Thanjavur take up kuruvai paddy nursery raising by April-end and the process would last till May end when transplantation used to peak. In the absence of water in the Cauvery, only those who have access to irrigation sources take up kuruvai paddy, which is a short-term duration crop of about 105 days. The harvest would peak and culminate in August last.
Over the past seven years, Karnataka scarcely released water in time for the farmers in the delta to take up Kuruvai cultivation. In the absence of adequate water, only those who could tap sub surface water resorted to kuruvai cultivation which naturally resulted in the overall fluctuation in the crop coverage area during this paddy cropping season.
Last year a total of 33,903 ha came under kuruvai paddy in Thanjavur district while in 2016-17 it was 35,573 ha. During 2015-16, kuruvai was raised on 34.475 ha while in 2014-15 the short term crop was raised on 31,830 ha. In 2013-14, around 28,294 ha was covered by kuruvai paddy in the district.
This year, with the farmers advancing kuruvai cultivation, the officials expect that at least 34,000 ha could come under kuruvai paddy in Thanjavur district.
The traditional areas such as Papanasam, Kumbakonam, Tiruvidaimarudur and Tirupanandal are lush with kuruvai paddy in varying stages of development. With crops in middle stages of growth, harvest might commence in the middle of July and would be over in August-end.
With bore-wells in the traditional old aycut areas yielding water only at depths of 130 to 140 feet, we feared that that with harsh summer advancing the situation might take a turn for the worse with depleting water yields and the resource itself getting scarce. What if we are forced to sink the existing bore wells deeper in the middle of our kuruvai cultivation necessitating further cash outflow? That’s why most of us preferred to bring forward this year’s kuruvai by raising nurseries at least a month ahead. The recent spell of unseasonal rains have added strength to our calculations and the crops are good everywhere, says P. Ilamurugan, a farmer belonging to Tirupanandal near Kumbakonam.
Last season, the productivity in kuruvai season was to the tune of 5.5 tonnes per hectare. This year, the Agriculture Department officials aver that it could be in the region of 5.6 to six tonnes per hectare as the agro climatic conditions are more conducive.
