Huge cuts in yields leads to spiral in rice price

TIRUCHY: Samba and thalady yield has declined drastically due to water shortage and the failure of monsoon rains in the Delta region.

This has resulted in poor rice production which has led to a hike in rice prices. The farmers from the region claim that they have witnessed at least a 30 per cent cut in yield and have appealed to the State government for proper compensation.

Cauvery Delta region used to cultivate 15 lakh acres of kuruvai, samba, and thalady crops but during this season, the water that was released from Mettur on the usual customary date of June 12 was stopped in October owing to poor inflow and storage in the reservoir and so the farmers had managed to complete kuruvai with the available water.

However, despite the water shortage, the farmers went ahead with the cultivation of samba with the hope of usual monsoon rains but it was not as good as expected and at the same time, the rains lashed in Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Mayiladuthurai districts experienced water stagnation after a few days of rains as the water failed to recede due to improper drains.

As a result, the samba and thalady were damaged due to water stagnation and blast and pest attacks due to the unfavourable climatic conditions.

These factors resulted in poor yield this season.

According to farmers from the region, the usual yield for samba and thalady was between 1,400 kg and 1,600 kg per acre but this time, they could get only between 1,000 kg and 1,200 kg per kg.

As the harvest has been picking up in the Delta for samba and thalady, the farmers from the region predict that there might be a lead in the production of rice this year and the price has increased up to Rs 12 per kg.

For instance, the fine variety of RNR Deluxe rice which was sold at Rs 50 per kg has been sold at present at Rs 62 per kg. While the Karnataka Ponni and Andhra Ponni are sold at Rs 67 per kg which was sold at Rs 54 per kg till recently.

“The yield has drastically declined due to water shortage, failure of monsoon, and pest attacks. The yield has declined between 20 and 40 per cent in samba and thalady,” said Swamimalai Sundara Vimalnathan, Secretary, Tamil Nadu Cauvery Farmers Protection Association.

He also said that due to poor production, the demand for paddy had increased so the private parties reached out to the farmers in their respective fields and procured paddy at Rs 1,750 per bag containing 62 kg.

While the wholesale dealers from the region said, due to the poor yield, the local supply of rice was affected.

“To compensate for the supply, we import paddy from Andhra, Karnataka, West Bengal, and Maharashtra and hull them in the local rice mills for supply into the market,” said K Vaithilingam, a wholesale rice merchant from Tiruchy.