: It is already seven in the morning but there is hardly any sunshine in the hinterlands of Thanjavur and visibility is less than 50 feet. Vehicles ply slowly on the highway with their head lamps on even as two wheeler riders grope their way through the dense fog.
As fog covers the samba paddy fields, fear of crop loss has hit delta farmers. Even those who have raised samba or thalady paddy using bore wells are now trembling at the thought of pest attack wiping out whatever they could harvest.
More than nine lakh acres are under samba and thalady paddy crop in the delta districts of Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam and the crops are in various stages of growth. ``For those who raised the crop late and wherever crop is in the early stages of growth, the current foggy condition might be of immense help especially in the absence of rain and water in the rivers and channels. But for those who took to direct sowing after the State Government's bold nudge to go in for the radical endeavour, the going is definitely tough,'' fears V. Jeevakumar, vice-president of the Tami Nadu Vivasaya Thozhilalar Sangam.
Across the delta region samba and thalady paddy crops are in 20 to 70 days old period and every stage is a crucial one that would reflect on the productivity. With water scarcity dealing a heavy blow, the current unseasonal fog is playing on the minds of the farmers, he reasons. Farmers like him claim that the crop now is susceptible to blast disease attack or any other pest attack. Department of Agriculture sources agree that the young crop might be exposed to blast infestation but only when the temperature goes below 19 degree Celsius. But the recent crop varieties are pest resistant and only where farmers have gone in for BPT 5204 and ADT 49 they need to watch out for blast infestation, they caution. Besides, the foggy conditions might also result in lack of nitrogen fixation which too might affect the paddy crops if the situation prolongs, they aver.
With the weatherman forecasting rain from Thursday for four days, the crop will also be exposed to the danger of brown plant hopper disease in case of rain and shine alternating, farmers and officials fear in unison.
