Fresh spell of rain spoils Samba harvest in Delta

Continuous heavy rains in the delta region prevented the harvest and the procurement process.

As a result, more than 1.50 lakh paddy bags got piled up on Saturday and the farmers urged the state government to introduce mobile DPCs to avert damage to harvested crops.

Sources said that the unseasonal downpour for the past two days in the Cauvery delta region, especially, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, Tiruvarur and Thanjavur districts, to be more than the average rainfall for this season. While farmers commenced the harvest of samba and thalady crops, the sudden rain affected the process in the region.

Officials said that at least 60 per cent of the harvest has been completed so far, but the process for the remaining areas were put on hold due to the rains.

However, farmers complained that the mature paddy had started to wither as they could go ahead with the harvesting process. They were confident that the rain would subside within a day or two and there would not be much loss.

Meanwhile, due to the rains, the procurement process too had been hit citing the moisture condition. And stocks of paddy had been piled up in front of the DPCs.

According to farmers, more than 50,000 bags of paddy have piled up in Thanjavur district alone and similar is the situation in almost all delta districts. Farmers have been waiting for water to drain in and around the DPCs. “This problem can be resolved if mobile DPCs are established. Presently, a DPC covers several thousands of acres and this is inadequate and farmers find it very difficult to reach the paddy to the DPCs on time.

If mobile DPCs are functioning, the unusual delay in reaching the paddy can be avoided and loss to farmers can be prevented”, said Sundarajan, a farmer from Kurichi village near Pattukkottai.