Chennai: Inadequate irrigation supply has forced farmers in the Cauvery delta to scale down kuruvai, the short-duration paddy crop, by nearly one lakh acres this season, with Nagapattinam, Ariyalur, Trichy, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur among the worst-affected districts. Against the average coverage of 4.4 lakh acres recorded over the past five years, kuruvai cultivation has been taken up on only 3.47 lakh acres this year, said sources from agriculture department. The crop is cultivated over a period of 100 to 105 days between April and July.The setback follows the failure to release water from the Mettur reservoir on the customary date of June 12, on which is crucial for delta irrigation. The water is unlikely to be released before Aug, as inflow from Karnataka reservoirs remains poor, falling short by about 12tmcft. As of July 13, Mettur reservoir had 37tmcft of water, against its capacity of 93tmcft. “The priority is to ensure drinking water supply until the onset of the northeast monsoon. The outflow from Mettur has been reduced to 1,000 cusecs to wet the riverbed, as several drinking water schemes depend on it,” said a senior official.In several parts of the delta, including Cuddalore and Mayiladuthurai, farmers are relying on borewells to draw groundwater. Farmer representatives, however, said groundwater levels have fallen sharply, increasing the time and cost of irrigation. “Earlier, an acre could be irrigated in one-and-a-half days. Now, it takes much longer. Lack of water and erratic power supply have pushed farmers into distress. Yield loss will be significant,” said Tamil Nadu Cauvery Farmers Protection Association secretary Swamimalai S Vimalanathan. Chief minister C Joseph Vijay is expected to hold a review meeting with officials of agriculture and farmers welfare department on Thursday.P R Pandian, president of the coordination committee of All Farmers Associations of Tamil Nadu, said the state should assess the impact and declare drought-hit areas to secure financial assistance. Referring to Karnataka chief minister D K Shivakumar’s letter to PM Modi on Wednesday on the worsening situation due to rainfall deficiency, Pandian said samba cultivation may be at risk too.
