Five months ago, when the Ramanathapuram district experienced excess rainfall, the authorities led by District Collector Dinesh Ponraj Oliver ensured that the water was not wasted.
After the water was collected in tanks, the officials from the Agriculture department swung into action. Inviting the farmers was accorded top priority. When they assembled, the Collector encouraged them to take up a second crop as they have copious water in storage.
The interaction appears to have borne fruit as farmers have come forward to try a second crop, a first time for most of them.
Ramanathapuram district, which has been synonymous with drought, has been witnessing a change. The green cover is getting thicker in remote villages, due to the presence of the water bodies and awareness programs on water conservation.
Despite having 1,694 tanks including 502 PWD tanks and the rest as Minor Irrigation tanks, Mr Dinesh appealed to the farmers to change the nomenclature of the district from "thanniyillaa kaadu" (drought land) into a district potential for growing multi crops. After having received a subsidy component, 2,214 farmers have come forward and cultivated 2,766 acres against the targeted 5,000 acres, raising cotton, millets and among others. The farmers were encouraged to shift from the conventional paddy to other varieties which required less water for irrigation.
While a majority of the farmers had harvested the crop, Mr Dinesh visited Achunthanvayal village and congratulated the farmers. He also recognised the officials at the Agriculture Department for their commendable guidance led by Joint Director Tom Sylus and Additional Collector M Pradeep Kumar.
Surplus rain water
In January, against the normal rainfall of 48.5 mm, the district received 248.74 mm rain. As a result, the Big Tank had 3.6 feet additional water (206 mcft), R S Mangalam Tank had eight feet of water (599.38 mcft) and Kalari Tank had 9.8 ft of water (256 mcft).
The farmers produced 9,400 quintals of different types of grains and cotton. On an average, they have earned ₹12000 to ₹15000 each from the second crop.
Attributing the success to the team work and support from the farmers, Mr Dinesh said that they would repeat the performance next season with a higher target.
