The Hindu : Sharp fall in paddy yield at Kuttanad

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 05, 2004

Kerala

Kerala - Alappuzha

Sharp fall in paddy yield at Kuttanad

By A. Harikumar

ALAPPUZHA, FEB. 4. The farmers of Kuttanad are experiencing a sharp fall in the yield of paddy in the current harvest season which began a week ago.

According to the farmers, the yield of paddy has come down by around 50 per cent in the current harvest season which began almost two weeks earlier than the usual period. Though the reasons for this has not been identified by the Agriculture Department, the farmers feel that the continuing intrusion of saline water into the fields is the root cause of their predicament. They said their woes had been intensified by the attack of pests.

``While the yield of paddy was around 20 quintals per acre during the last season, it has come down to 10 quintals an acre during the current season according to the initial indications,'' Dinesh Kumar, a farmer from Champakkulam panchayat in Kuttanad, said.

``The situation is even worse in Ramankary and upper Kuttanad areas,'' said Asokan, a farmer from Ramankary. ``The paddy farm in many fields at Champakkulam have dried and fallen. This is because of the continuing intrusion of saline water,'' said Mr. Dinesh, who is an office-bearer of the Padasekhara Samithy.

Despite the claims of the authorities that the saline water intrusion had stopped completely with the closing of the Thottappally spillway with sand bags, it was still continuing, he said. He said the water level in the fields in Kuttanad, which lies below sea level, had fallen this year.

``As a result of this, the saline water is rushing in through the numerous inlets other than Thottappally bar,'' he said.

Mr Asokan said the channels at Thrikkunnappuzha and the Thannermukkom barriage were some of the places through which intrusion of saline water was possible. The release of fresh water to Kuttanad from Moozhiyar dam following the intervention of the State Government had diluted the salt water but not fully removed it, Mr. Dinesh said.

He said the paddy plants, which had been weakened by the entry of salt water, had become more vulnerable to pest attack. The yield had come down because of the impact of this, he said. Mr Dinesh noted that many of the farmers would be forced to stop agricultural activities, as they would not be able to withstand the loss from a poor harvest.

About 70 per cent of the farmers in Kuttanad depended on bank loans for carrying out agricultural activities, he said. They would not be able to repay loans as the yield had fallen steeply, Mr. Dinesh said.

He said the Agriculture Department had not done a proper study of the salt content of the water in Kuttanad or the PH value of the soil in the fields of Kuttanad.

The farmers often resort to large-scale use of pesticides to protect the weak plants from attack of pests which in turn affects the soil, he said.

Mr. Dinesh said the flow of fresh water from Pampa to Kuttanad had come down over the last few years.

``Kuttanad has not experienced flood in the last two years,'' he said.

Besides, the pollution of the River Pampa and Vembanad lake had also affected the PH value of the soil, he noted. According to him, the farmers could be saved only through long-term measures to prevent entry of salt water and minimise the pollution of Vembanad lake.

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