The continuing heavy summer rain during the peak harvest season has put the paddy farmers in the district in dire straits.
The paddy cultivation during the Puncha season was inordinately delayed on account of the inclement weather conditions that existed during the sowing season last year. Normally, the sowing should have been completed by September. But the extended rain during the period had forced the farmers to delay sowing by nearly two months. As such, all subsequent operations too were delayed and the harvesting which should have been completed by March is still going on.
It is against this unprecedented situation that the heavy summer rain is wreaking havoc. During the Puncha season, over 8,000 hectares have been brought under paddy cultivation in the district. “Ripe paddy in more than 3,000 hectares remains to be harvested,” said Paddy Field Officer G. Baburaj.
According to Sunny Kalloor, general secretary, Kerala Pradesh Karshaka Congress and chairman, Kottayam Municipality, a host of factors have contributed to the present crisis. While the delayed planting operations coupled with the heavy summer rain during the peak harvesting season had created an unprecedented situation, the government machinery which should have kick-started crisis management efforts could not make a focused attempt on account of the Assembly elections, he said.
The complexity of the situation has been compounded by the beginning of the harvesting season in the neighbouring States from where the combined harvesters were being brought to the district on lease, resulting in a scarcity for the machines.
One of the immediate results of the heavy rain accompanied by stormy winds was a near total power breakdown in the large polders, which made the pumping out of water from the paddy fields impossible. With the fields remaining inundated, harvesting the paddy using combined harvesters too has become difficult.
Presently harvesting is totally dependent on mechanisation. The crisis brought out by the rains has now jacked up the rent for the combined harvesters. “Earlier it was around Rs.1300 an hour but with the demand increasing, the rent has gone upwards of Rs.2000 an hour,” said Mr. Kalloor.
He called upon the authorities to take immediate action to restore power supply to the inundated paddy fields so that the water could be pumped out without delay. He also wanted the District Collectors of Kottayam and Alappuzha to take a united decision on the fee for the service of the combined harvesters.
After a bad spell during the last season, farmers were expecting a good harvest this Puncha season. Unless the authorities took immediate action, it might turn out to be yet another nightmare for the paddy cultivators of Kuttanad, Mr. Kalloor said.
