NAGAPATTINAM: Paddy farmers who could not take up cultivation and lost their livelihood during the kuruvai season, or lost crops due to lack of water, have urged the state government to provide compensation and extend kuruvai package benefits to samba crops.
The state government announced a Rs 134-crore kuruvai special package to help paddy farmers tackle the crisis arising out of non-release of water from the Mettur dam on the customary date of June 12. The aim was to encourage farmers to raise paddy using alternative irrigation sources such as filter point wells.
The government, however, has not announced any assistance to farmers who were unable to take up kuruvai cultivation and lost their livelihood. Official figures show that around 28,000 farmers cultivated kuruvai paddy over nearly 30,000 hectares in Nagapattinam in 2025, while this year only around 1,100 farmers have taken up cultivation in about 1,720 hectares.
In Tiruvarur, the number of farmers engaged in kuruvai cultivation fell from 59,885 in 2025 to 38,330 in 2026, while the cultivated area declined from 77,573 hectares to 46,338 hectares. This suggests that around 26,900 farmers in Nagapattinam and 21,555 farmers in Tiruvarur could not benefit under the kuruvai special package.
Citing losses, farmers have called upon the government to provide compensation and also announce a special package for the samba season as water has been released from Mettur. “Otherwise, a large number of farmers will be affected during this season also,” said S R Tamilselvan of the Tamil Nadu Farmers Protection Association. P Sukumaran of Tirupoonthurthi in Thanjavur said he lost Rs 10,000 per acre as he could not cultivate during the kuruvai season.
P Kamal Ram, a farmer from Thalainayar, urged the government to declare the delta districts an agriculturally distressed region and provide Rs 25,000 per acre as compensation to farmers who were unable to take up kuruvai cultivation or suffered crop losses due to summer heat, scanty rain and depleting groundwater levels. “Out of the five acres sown, kuruvai crop in three acres withered due to intense heat, scanty rain and low groundwater levels,” said A Nedumaran, a farmer from Tirumarugal.