Kerala - Alappuzha   

Kuttanad farmers left in the lurch

Dennis Marcus Mathew

No sign of procurement though harvesting is almost over

MOUNDS OF WOES: Mounds of paddy being kept in the open after harvest. It has started sprouting in many areas following the delay in procurement.

ALAPPUZHA: Paddy farmers of Kuttanad, Kerala's once-acclaimed rice bowl, are in a predicament.

More than 20 days after a majority of them harvested their crop, there is no sign of the State Civil Supplies Corporation procuring the crop — as promised. The result: nearly 12,000 tonnes of paddy harvested from over 6,000 acres is lying on the fields. Worse, it has been raining and the paddy may sprout, adding to the farmers' woes.

The farmers voiced their frustration on Thursday when Kuttanad MLA Thomas Chandy and Kuttanad Vikasana Samithi executive director Fr. Thomas Peelianickal visited the paddy fields along with a media team.

Farmer breaks down

Xavier Abraham, one of the farmers who have taken land on lease for cultivation in the H block, broke down while expressing his anguish.

``This year, the harvest is better than in the last five years. But what is the use if we cannot sell it. The Government had promised that it would procure paddy and store it in its godowns. Not a single official has come here so far and the crop has started decaying. I'm already in debt and if something is not done quickly I will be left with no option but to commit suicide,'' he said.

Xavier and his wife Lisamma have been sleeping in their field ever since the harvest some 20 days ago.

``We have to keep churning and turning the paddy to keep it dry and prevent sprouting. But how long can we do it,'' Lisamma asked, showing sprouting grains from the huge crop heaps.

Their woes are not just about delayed procurement. Jose, a farmer in the E block, says he could harvest crop from only seven of the 14 acres he has cultivated. The harvesting machine could not be taken to some of the fields because there are no roads. And manual labour is not available.

``How am I going to repay my loan,'' he asked the MLA, who himself has crop from about 12 acres.

Paddy piling up

With harvesting machines hastening the harvest this year, wherever the machine could be taken, the crop is piling up. With only two or three mills coming forward to procure the crop, inadequate transport facilities and shortage of labour, the crisis this year is worse than ever, Fr. Peelianickal says.

The procurement, whatever of it has been done, has been slow. While only 75 tonnes out of 2,800 tonnes has been procured from one block, 2,500 tonnes out of nearly 5,000 tonnes remains in another. Sreemoolam, Marankayal, Mathikayal, 9,000-Kayal and various sections in the D block also have mounting heaps of the crop.

Moreover, with the crop in around 1,200 acres yet to be harvested, the opening of the Thanneermukkam barrage poses another problem.

The farmers fear that the intrusion of saline water through the barrage could damage the crop even before harvest.

``What these farmers need is procurement on a war footing and enough warehouses to stock the crop. The Samithi will start an agitation if urgent measures are not taken,'' Fr. Peelianickal says.

Mr. Chandy, meanwhile, is planning to go on a hunger strike if the Government does not intervene immediately and solve the crisis.

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