Tamil Nadu - Erode   

Paucity of labourers delays harvest

Staff Reporter

This will affect yield, farmers lament

ERODE: Scarcity of agricultural labourers has affected farm owners here.

In Thadapalli and Arakkankottai ayacuts area in Gobichettipalayam taluk, paddy has been raised on over 25,000 acres as second crop and it is ready for harvest in almost all the areas.

Usually, the paddy crop is harvested in the middle of January in the ayacuts. But this year, landowners have not begun the harvest due to shortage of agricultural labourers.

Harvesters

In some places, the farmers are using machines to harvest paddy. But they say that they cannot extend mechanisation due to non-availability of required number of machines. They have asked the Agricultural Engineering Department to introduce more harvesters in Erode district.

The paddy crop on more than 10,000 acres will be harvested only by the end of this month. Because of this delay, the yield will be affected, the farmers say.

Water release

The farmers also complain that as the Public Works Department is still releasing water into the Thadapalli and Arakkankottai canals, paddy fields are flooded affecting the standing crop. They urged the PWD to stop the supply.

The Kalingarayan farmers have complained that despite repeated warning by the district administration, some tanners and textile dyers continue to discharge untreated effluents into the Kalingarayan canal.

Appeal

Because of this, the yield of the standing crops is affected, the farmers say.

They have urged the Collector to instruct the dyers to shift their industries to Perundurai Industrial Growth Centre.

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