With bountiful, uniform rain throughout the State during the past one month and the ‘kuruvai' coverage exceeding expectations, the Agriculture Department is confident of surpassing the paddy coverage of last year.
According to a senior officer, the State has recorded a jump of more than one lakh hectares in kuruvai (short term paddy crop) coverage alone. “The opening of the Mettur Dam for delta irrigation six days ahead of the scheduled date of June 12 has proved extremely beneficial and the storage continues to be good in Mettur. While the south-west monsoon has been more than normal so far, the northeast monsoon is also expected to be good. Hence we are confident of exceeding last year's paddy coverage of 19.95 lakh hectares,” he said.
Positive deviation of two per cent
From June 1 to Sept 21 this year, the State recorded a rainfall of 285.7 mm against the normal 281 mm, a positive deviation of two per cent. (The normal rainfall up to September end is 319.2 mm.)
Of this, the rains were not uniform or copious till August 17. Thereafter, it had proved so bountiful that seven districts have recorded excess (20 per cent more than normal), 13 districts normal (plus or minus 19 per cent) and 12 districts deficit (minus 20 per cent to 59 per cent) rainfall. While the kuruvai coverage has shot up from 3.73 lakh hectares during 2010 to 4.71 lakh hectares, sugarcane has increased from 1.94 lakh hectares to 2.36 lakh hectares, cotton from 54,300 hectares to 57,200 hectares.
With regard to samba coverage, 35,000 hectares had been covered so far through direct sowing in districts such as Ramanthapuram, Sivaganga and Kanchipuram. Planting had been completed in 1.34 lakh hectares. Nursery operations were in full swing in 26,000 hectares with which 2.5 lakh hectares could be covered.
Comfortable storage
The authorities are confident that supply from the Mettur Dam for samba crop in delta region could be continued up to the scheduled date of January 28, 2012, as the current level of Mettur Dam is 92 ft (total height 120ft) against last year's level of 74 ft. Thus it has 54.7 thousand million cubic ft (tmcft) against the total capacity of 93.4 tmcft. Besides, Karnataka reservoirs are also brimming. And hence it is an “extremely conducive situation” for samba crop.
Shortfall
However, it is crops like millets, pulses, oilseeds which had suffered considerably due to the late rainfall.
While the coverage of both millets and pulses have recorded shortfall of about 60,000 hectares against last year, oil seeds are the worst hit with a shortage of almost one lakh hectares.
Explaining the reason for the higher coverage of these three than last year, he said it was because of the excess rainfall throughout the south-west monsoon which recorded 383.7 mm, as much as 20 per cent in excess overall.
