The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Above normal samba coverage likely

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 26, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Above normal samba coverage likely

S. Vydhianathan

Thanks to uninterrupted water supply

CHENNAI: The State is likely to exceed its normal samba coverage in the current year, thanks to uninterrupted water supply from reservoirs and good monsoon.

Transplantation of nurseries is over in 8.26 lakh hectares in the State as against the normal coverage of 8.40 lakh hectares. In the Cauvery delta districts transplantation has been completed in 2.431 lakh hectares and transplantation is on in another 1.609 lakh hectares. It will go on till the second week of November.

In addition, farmers in about 45,000 hectares have gone for direct sowing, especially in Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Pudukottai and Cuddalore districts. If the trend continues, the State may exceed the normal samba coverage, according to Agriculture Department officials here.

Normal coverage of short-term kuruvai paddy was not possible in the delta districts as the Mettur reservoir could not be opened on June 12 due to poor storage. Farmers with tubewells alone could raise kuruvai paddy.

As against the normal coverage of 2.074 lakh hectares, only 67,000 hectares could be covered. However, the shortfall in kuruvai has been compensated in the samba crop. Harvest of kuruvai has started and will be over by the first week of November. The yield is good at 5.75 tonnes per hectare, the officials say.

Poor procurement

Arrival of kuruvai paddy at direct purchase centres of the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation is poor. So far the corporation has been able to purchase only 16 tonnes in the current season. This is surprising as the corporation is offering a better price of Rs. 725 a quintal. Last year, by this time, the corporation had procured about 1.3 lakh tonnes. An official of the corporation attributes the poor arrival to good prices offered by private dealers. He expected the corporation to get sufficient quantity in the samba season.

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