Failure of northeast monsoon and the prevailing hot weather has hit the growth of tapioca crop at Pachamalai, a low range mountains along the Eastern Ghats, in the district.
Tapioca cultivation has been the main source of livelihood to farmers of Pachamalai, a majority of them tribal people, for decades, and the red loam soil and the moisture content in it have been facilitating the growth of tapioca. The mushroom growth of sago industries in Salem and Athur down the hills has been giving assured returns to farmers.
According to sources, about 7,000 acres of land was brought under the tapioca cultivation this season. The crops, which were planted in the Tamil month of Aadi, are just a month away from harvest. However, the health of the crops had been hit because of the failure of northeast monsoon and summer showers.
The standing crops require the final application of fertilizer. Farmers usually apply the fertilizer when the hill gets summer showers. However, they could not do so because of the extreme dry weather in the last two months.
“Summer showers are crucial for the overall growth of tapioca. There is absolutely no rain since the second week of December. The northeast monsoon was a failure. We are really worried over the health of the standing crop,” said C. Suresh, a farmer and chief executive officer of the Pachamalai Farmer Producers Company.
Except for some who have pump set irrigation, he said that most farmers faced the prospect of poor yield. If did not rain in the next one week or 10 days, farmers would suffer heavy loss, Mr. Suresh added.
