The recent spell of summer showers have dampened the bumper crop dreams of paddy farmers in the Upper Kuttanad region.
The ripe paddy at many fields of Chathankary, Niranom, Peringara, Nedumpram, and Kadapra have fallen in the heavy downpour and wind, making it difficult for combine harvesters to cut them properly. Afternoon rain in the coming days will spell real trouble for the hapless farmers. Mechanised paddy harvest in waterlogged fields will be a difficult task.
Sprouting of the paddy fallen in the rain-drenched fields, coupled with the difficulty in using combine harvesters in the waterlogged fields, are the main problems the peasants of Upper Kuttanad face, Sam Eapen says.
Peringara grama panchayat president and the Upper Kuttanad Nelkarshaka Samiti (UKNS) president. Mr. Eapen says paddy crop in as much as 700 hectares of land has been affected in the summer rain that lashed the region in the past week.
Mr. Eapen says the farmers are worried over the fate of mechanised paddy harvest in the slushy fields of Chathankary (300 acres), Valavady (100 acres), Manickathady (75 acres), Panakary (60 acres), Valavanary (70 acres), Manakery (30 acres), and Kodankery (240 acres).
Shortage of farm workers and non-availability of sufficient combine harvesters are the key aspects that delayed the harvest in Upper Kuttanad. Though the Kuttanad Package has prescribed many suggestions to ensure sustainable paddy cultivation in the region, the authorities have miserably failed at its implementation level, alleges Mr. Eapen.
Many a harvester purchased under the package are idling in the Agro Industries Corporation yard for want of proper management. The authorities concerned appear to have taken little effort to address the real problems of the paddy cultivators, he says. Ironically, the three combine harvesters purchased by the district panchayat are found unsuitable for the region, he says.
