Farmers await release of water for ‘kuruvai’ crop

Scanty rains in catchment areas and poor storage in dams causing delay

July 27, 2020 07:45 pm | Updated 07:45 pm IST

With almost two months behind schedule for raising ‘kuruvai’ paddy on the double crop area, farmers in Madurai district are anxiously awaiting release of water for irrigation for the first crop from the Vaigai dam.

Water for irrigation for 45,000 acres of ayacut of double crop area in Dindigul and Madurai district usually begins in the first week of June as and when the combined Periyar credit touches 4,000 mcft. However, scanty rainfall in the catchment areas of Periyar dam and consequent poor storage of water in Periyar and Vaigai dams are causing the delay in release of water, say officials of the Public Works Department.

The water level in Periyar dam was 114.65 feet on Sunday with a storage of 1,668 mcft.

Acknowledging the need to release water for ‘kuruvai’ cultivation, the Agriculture department had recently written a letter to the PWD enquiring about the date of release of water for irrigation.

T. Vivekanandan, Joint Director of Agriculture, said farmers of Madurai East, Madurai West, Alanganallur, Vadipatti and Melur blocks - all double-crop areas - were totally dependent on water from Periyar dam. While the target area of cultivation under kuruvai season this year was 3,300 hectares, the area under cultivation was less than 1,000 hectares. Through well irrigation, paddy was being raised in Chellampatti block, he added.

“We have been suggesting farmers to opt for alternative cultivation of pulses. However, many farmers are unable to follow it due to ambiguity about the time of release of water for paddy irrigation,” he added.

M. Murugan, president of Periyar Single Crop Area Farmers’ Association, said water is released for irrigation on June 1 every year when the combined storage in Periyar credit and local system tanks was above 4,000 mcft.

However, for the past six years, there has been a delay owing to scanty rainfall, said Mr. Vivekanandan. “Last year too, water was released in the last week of August. As a result there was a reduction in paddy cultivation area,” he said.

In various double crop areas between Peranai and Kallandiri, farmers were able to grow only a single crop owing to delayed release of water, he added.

Concurring with this viewpoint, Mr. Murugan said that due to delayed release of water, the crop was harvested during the rainy season. “Hence, many farmers complained about pest attack and crop damage,” he added.

Many tail-end areas also do not receive sufficient water when there is a delay in release of water, said N. Palanichamy, president of Tamil Nadu Sugarcane Farmers’ Association. “Already many farmers were financially struggling due to COVID-19 pandemic. With delay in release of water, many of them have lost their livelihoods,” he added.

A PWD official said that currently it was even challenging to supply drinking water to Madurai Corporation as the level in Vaigai dam was lower at 31.10 feet. The storage in the dam was 415 mcft on Sunday. “So we are prioritising the supply of drinking water. Only if we receive good rainfall in the catchment areas of Periyar dam, resulting in increased Periyar credit will we be able to release water for irrigation,” said the official.

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