TN farmers dejected as Kuruvayi paddy yield down by 25%

CHENNAI: With the Kuruvai paddy season in Tamil Nadu almost over, the delta farmers of the state, who were expecting a bumper harvest, are dejected.

The Kuruvai paddy yield in delta belts of Tamil Nadu has fallen below 25 per cent of what was expected. While the farmers were expecting a minimum of 30 bags of paddy per acre, in many cases it has gone below 25 bags leading to losses. It may be noted that each bag of paddy weighs around 80 kg.

R.K. Sivaraman, a farmer in Thanjavur, the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu, told IANS that the expectations were shattered after the Kuruvai harvest, and added that the inconsistent water supply from the Cauvery River was the main reason behind this.

While the Mettur dam was opened on June 12, the customary date, the water from Cauvery River was in erratic supply, and there were skirmishes between the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka regarding the shortage in the release of the water to Tamil Nadu.

Farmers told IANS that those who depended on the groundwater got maximum yields and there were farmers who could harvest even 50 bags of paddy from an acre of farmland.

The farmers had achieved the target of 3.25 lakh acres of Paddy farming but after water supply from Cauvery turned erratic, the yield came down. Farmers were expecting a good south west monsoon but it was also not as what was expected.

Farmers' association leader K.Karuppusamy while speaking to IANS said, “We were expecting 2,400 kg per acre of paddy harvest but it has fallen much below and those who got at least 2,100 kg are lucky enough. We have suffered losses and continuous losses would lead to major financial woes to farmers."