The despondency of October has now given way to hopes of a peaceful and satisfying harvest among samba paddy farmers in delta districts of Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam. The recent spell of rains due to the depression in the Bay of Bengal has raised the expectations of a “very decent harvest.”
The plummeting water level in the Mettur dam, deficient rainfall, refusal of Karnataka to comply to release water and the insensitivity of the Central government to seriously look into the water demands of the delta were bothering the farmers who had raised samba paddy on more than eight lakh acres in the three districts.
With kuruvai coverage pruned to just about one lakh acres over the years, farmers were depending on samba paddy for their livelihood. Now with yet another spell of rain coming down on the delta districts, the health of the standing samba paddy crop has assumed importance.
In most of the delta, the directly sown paddy and the transplanted crop are largely in the initial stage. While in some areas of Thanjavur district, crops might be in the active tillering stage, in vast areas of the delta there was little flooding of the fields. In most of the areas water drained off quickly much to the relief of the farmers. “While there is no imminent danger to the standing samba paddy, sustained rain during the second and third week of December and subsequent water logging in the fields would put a huge question mark on productivity,” points out Mannargudi S. Ranganathan, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Cauvey Delta Farmers Welfare Association.
“Trouble will be there if there is sustained rains and water logging during the flowering stage because it could lead to withering of root and pest attack, among other problems,” he adds.
In Nagapattinam district, fields in some blocks such as Sirkali, Mayiladuthurai and Nagapattinam suffered. Damage was also reported from Kottur, Muthupettai and Thiruthuraipoondi in Tiruvarur district where the late kuruvai and thaladi crop had to bear the brunt on over 500 hectares. In many areas the rain has washed away the pest attack that usually follows a downpour.
Farmers do not mind some more rain in the delta, as the Tamil month of Karthigai brings in showers, but all that must be over by the crucial mid-December when crops enter the flowering stage. After that irrigation when required could ensure a good decent harvest, the farmers said.
