NEW DELHI: The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal assessors' reports on apportionment of water have taken into account the crop patterns of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Pondicherry.

The two assessors pointed out that Tamil Nadu had furnished information on the existing crops under various projects.

"In respect of the Cauvery delta system, which is their major irrigated zone, they have shown raising of `kuruvai' and `thaladi' as also the single `samba' paddy crop right from 1901 onwards. It is also reported that sugarcane, banana and other crops (groundnut and garden crops, etc.) have been introduced from 1980 onwards."

Net irrigated area

From the statistics available, it was noticed that although the difference between the total cultivable area and the net sown area in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in the Cauvery basin was only about four lakh hectares, the net irrigated area in Tamil Nadu was almost double that of Karnataka.

Paddy had been the predominant crop in the entire Tamil Nadu area within the Cauvery basin and this position continued even to date.

While fixing Tamil Nadu's requirement at 395 tmcft, the assessors said that for planning the crop water requirement of the projects which were constructed by making large investments, it was imperative to safeguard against any risk of crop failure and as far as possible provide assured irrigation at the critical stages of the crop.

Assessing Karnataka's requirement at 250 tmcft, the report suggested that it would be prudent for the State to go for a paddy crop of medium duration, which would give higher yield. The assessors did not agree with Tamil Nadu's contention that "Karnataka does not need any water for raising semi-dry crops in the command of the Hemavathy, Harangi and Kabini projects."

They said assured water availability would be necessary for optimal productivity.

In fixing Karnataka's requirement, the assessors also provided for mulberry and sugarcane cultivation.

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