Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

Bad patch over in Pudukottai agriculture

By Our Staff Reporter

PUDUKOTTAI NOV. 10. After a couple of bad seasons caused by drought, samba cultivation has begun in full swing in Pudukottai district this year. Cautious optimism prevails among the farmers, who are pinning their hopes on monsoon.

Agriculture department officials too are hopeful of good samba coverage as the farmers, who had left their fields fallow during the kuruvai season, are now going for samba. Their optimism stems from the flurry of activity across the district, with men and women busily engaged in ploughing fields and transplanting nurseries.

Lush green paddy fields and nurseries are seen in the Keeranur, Aranthangi, Avudayarkovil, Thirumayam blocks and even in the normally dry Ponnamaravathy belt — a welcome relief from the dry tracts witnessed during the last few seasons.

The farming is not confined to Cauvery-Mettur Project areas in the Aranthangi-Avudayarkovil belt, which received some water following the opening of the Mettur reservoir, and can be seen also in the rainfed areas of the district.

For about 10 days towards the end of October, the CMP irrigation canals got 70-120 cusecs, contributing to an improvement in storage position in tanks.

During October, the district received about 186.2 mm of rain against the normal precipitation of 276.3 mm.

The district recorded a total average rainfall of 496 mm so far this year, against the annual normal of 922.8 mm.

According to the officials, transplantation has been completed on over 275 hectares in the CMP areas, while another 1,723 ha had been covered under direct sowing.

Though the normal samba coverage in the CMP areas is just about 3,200 ha, the officials expect that the coverage will touch 11,000 ha this season, including the leftover kuruvai area.

Just 326 ha was covered in the CMP areas during the kuruvai season against the normal area of 8,400 ha, they said. A majority of these farmers now took up samba cultivation.

There has also been a sharp increase in the area covered under direct sowing in non-CMP areas.

So far, 15,484 ha was covered this season under direct sowing in the rainfed areas. In addition, transplantation has been completed on about 18,528 ha, taking the total coverage to about 34,000 ha.

The normal samba coverage in the non-CMP areas is 68,400 ha.

Besides, nurseries on about 4,500 ha in the non-CMP areas and 550 ha in CMP areas are awaiting transplantation.

The officials foresee no problem in the samba coverage this season, though, they concede, the harvest will depend on monsoon.

The department is also gearing to promote pulses, gingili and groundnut, wherever samba paddy has not been raised.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Privilege issue resurfaces as defamation case
• Another round of TN-Kerala talks on PAP next month
• Congress stages Statewide blackflag demonstration
• Bad patch over in Pudukottai agriculture
• Teenagers held for Melapalayam girl's murder
• 15,000 Vellakoil powerlooms closed
• DMK files habeas corpus plea for Ilamvazhuthi release
• Treasury benches committed breach of privilege: panel member
• `Interceptors' yet to be identified
• Nedumaran acquitted
• SC saves Press freedom: DMK

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu