Situated in the foothills of Sirumalai is Dindigul’s own vineyard hub, consisting of over 25 villages under A. Vellode panchayat. In this pocket, over 500 farmers are engaged in cultivation of a variety of grape known as ‘panneer grapes.’ The crop is a climber that can yield every three months, thus having a maximum of four seasons per year and is grown on hundreds of acres in Pappanampatti, Ellapatti, Puguthapatti, Chettiyapatti, Munnilaikottai and other villages.
However, all is not well with the grape cultivation in these parts. For more than six years, the production has seen a decline and farmers rue consecutive droughts. And severe water crunch has resulted in crop loss, forcing farmers to move to other crops.
German Babu, a grape farmer from Kombai village, says he buys water through tankers for irrigating the crops, as two of the borewells in his farm have run dry. “Nearly 400 borewells in the area have run dry. People continue to sink borewells, but the water table has plummeted to 1000 feet. I spend about ₹10,000 every month for water to save the crop,” he says.
For drinking water, the panchayat union has dug a well from which water is supplied to the people of Vellode, Yesupalayam, Jeevanagar and Bharathipuram.
The area is dependent on rainwater from Sirumalai, and in 2006, a dam was constructed by Water Resources Department, to store water from the hills through two channels - Yanai Vilundhan Odai and Ramakkal Odai. It has been seven years since the dam filled last. “After that, we have never got a drop from the dam. Production of grapes has dipped by 60%. Earlier, we would harvest four tonnes of fruit per acre. Now, we hardly get 1.5 tonnes. Sometimes, the yield is as low as 700 kilos. The price, however, remains the same. We get about ₹45 to ₹50 per carton, which is sold for ₹150 in shops,” adds German.
M. Suresh, another farmer from Vellode, has resorted to other crops such as tulsi, flowers and pomegranate. “These need less water, compared to grapes. I have planted pomegranate as inter-crop for grapes, so that I can offset the loss from grapes,” he says.
“Clearing of undergrowth was taken up in the channels leading to the dam last year but failure of rains in Sirumalai has resulted in the dam running dry. The dam is not included in kudimaramathu project in the current year,” says Subramani, Executive Engineer, WRO, PWD.
