The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Delta farmers give up on paddy?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 15, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Delta farmers give up on paddy?

G. Srinivasan

Drought and floods play havoc

THANJAVUR: With drought and floods wreaking havoc alternately, farming in the Cauvery delta is no longer profitable: farmers are now reduced to struggling for sustaining their livelihood.

The three-crop pattern in Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts exists only in name. Just one long-term samba paddy crop is sustaining the farmers. The area of cultivation, productivity and production are about 50 per cent less than what it was during the normal period. The yield target of six-seven tonnes a hectare fixed by the Agriculture Department remains a distant dream. An average of three tonnes was achieved all the last three years. In Nagapattinam district it is only one tonne.

Because of poor storage, the opening of the Mettur dam was delayed in the last three years. Sometimes, the flow is not sufficient to take up cultivation. Farmers had to depend on rain to go ahead with samba. Excess rain in September and October in 2004 damaged crops in Nagapattinam district. Kuruvai has been restricted to pumpset-irrigated areas and Thaladi, third crop, is a filler in the uncovered samba area.

"Paddy cultivation has almost become uncertain in the delta districts due to the vagaries of monsoon and the Cauvery water issue. Last year, the dam was opened on August 12. Water flow was not sufficient and nurseries could not be transplanted in some areas. Those who raised late thaladi could sustain the crop only because of excess rain in October," says S. Ranganathan, secretary, Cauvery Delta Farmers Welfare Association.

Fall in procurement

Normally, the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation procures 12 lakh tonnes-16 lakh tonnes of samba paddy in the three delta districts. But this year only 8.25 lakh tonnes was procured. This is an indication of production loss, says Mr. Ranganathan.

This year too the Mettur storage is not enough for water release on June 12. "That is why we are giving importance to alternative crop cultivation during the kuruvai period," says Thanjavur Collector M. Veera Shanmugha Moni. "It has been planned to raise gingelly, maize, sunflower, groundnut, pulses, soya beans, cotton, etc, on 30,000 hectares this kuruvai season.

Agriculture department officials have been instructed to prepare a plan for raising the alternative crops and implement it, identifying interested farmers.

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