A second spell of rain in the last two days after a month-long dry period has brought cheer to farmers of this drought-prone district.
Farmers who had raised paddy crops on 1.06 lakh hectares are keeping their fingers crossed as they were let down by the southwest monsoon for the second successive year and the northeast monsoon also played truant. As the crops started wilting in some blocks, the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) has stepped in with spraying of Pink Pigmented Facultative Methylotroph (PPFM) bacteria in a bid to mitigate the drought and save the crops.
However, four days after launching the exercise, it started raining, bringing cheer to the farmers. The district received fairly widespread rainfall in all the blocks, Agriculture Department officials said. The district received an average of 19.91 mm of rainfall on Sunday and 28.18 mm on Monday till 8 a.m. on both the days. Unlike during the first week of November when it rained only in few blocks this time it was widespread, the officials said.
Against the total annual rainfall of 827 mm, the district received 526 mm so far, the officials said while expressing hope of another spell by month-end.
The district should have received a total rainfall of 135.3 mm during the southwest monsoon period of July to September but received only 67.83 mm this year, they said.
After the onset of northeast monsoon, it rained for two days on November 1 and 2 and again on November 7. But the rains were confined to Ramanathapuram (63.4 mm) and Thiruvadanai (24.2) blocks, the officials said.
Farmers in Parakamudi, RS Mangalam and Nainarkoil had left the wilted crops for cattle to graze and started re-ploughing for sesame sowing when the second spell of rains arrived much to their glee. This rain would help paddy growers and also chilli growers. It was not a soaking rain but good enough for chilli transplantation, the officials said. Chilli is grown on about 22,000 hectares in the district, they said.
