Harvesting of paddy cultivated along the Kalingarayan canal has begun. Farmers expect the yield to be normal.
The canal runs for about 91.10 km and irrigates 15,743 acres in the district and the water release helped farmers cultivate paddy and other crops in areas located near the canal. Farmers said that they could not cultivate paddy in their entire holdings fearing of water shortage. Hence, many farmers did not cultivate paddy and had chosen alternative crops that can withstand drought condition to a level.
Farmers expect the yield to be normal and wanted the minimum support price to be increased so that they could avoid loss. They added that water shortage led to many farmers not raising the crop in tail-end areas. Though labourers are available, their demand for more wages continues to worry farmers.
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Wages have increased, but not the yields and the price. However, we have to manage, said Karupannan, a farmer in Parisal Thurai. Farmers said that shortage of workforce could be felt only after 10 days when most of the harvesting will be carried out.
Many farmers said that they have planned to stock the paddy for their own consumption and for their relatives as the price of rice is over ₹ 50 a kg in the market.