THANJAVUR: With harvest of kuruvai paddy under way, farmers in the Cauvery delta districts have reported mixed yield. Farmers who harvested early said they got decent yield while those who started late reported a dip in yield.
In Thanjavur, paddy has been cultivated in 64,755 hectares during the kuruvai season this year as against 79,800 hectares last year. The reduction in coverage is attributed to the non-release of water from Mettur reservoir.
So far, harvest has been completed in 37,700 hectares in Thanjavur. According to officials of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department, the average yield has been around 5,500 kg/hectare which is comparable to last year’s yield. “As very high temperatures persisted beyond the summer season this year, the yield may come down due to combined factors of heat and water stress,” the officials added.
A few farmers in Tirukkattupalli who harvested the crop in the last week of August said they got 5,500 kg/hectare which was almost similar to last year’s yield, other farmers said the yield had come down. “I got only 30 bags (60 kg each) of paddy per acre this year compared to 45-50 bags last year,” said S Sivakumar of Manathidal village. He said in a nearby village 50% farmers got a decent yield this year and the other half got poor yield.
In Tiruvarur, paddy has been cultivated in 46,339 hectares compared to 77,573 hectares last year. So far, harvest is over in 25,658 hectares and the average yield is 4,468 kg/hectare which is better than last year’s average of 3,898 kg per hectare. “The impact of heat stress may reflect in the fields yet to be harvested,” the officials added.
In Nagapattinam, the area under Kuruvai paddy reduced drastically from 30,000 hectares last year to 1,720 hectares this year. The average yield has also come down from 4,940 kg/hectare to 4,200 kg/hectare.
K Ramesh, a farmer from Tirumarugal block, said the yield from four acres of land had fallen sharply. “Last year I got around 170 bags of paddy, each weighing 62 kg. But this year, from the same four acres, I got only about 47 bags” he said.
Mayiladuthurai has been the outlier with increased area of cultivation in 41,000 hectares compared to 39,700 hectares last year. The area under Kuruvai paddy cultivation in Tiruchy declined to 5,763 hectares from 7,233 hectares. Lalgudi is the only block where farmers have taken up cultivation on a large scale using borewells. Of the 14 blocks, farmers in Anthanallur and Manachanallur also cultivate Kuruvai, but only in small areas.
Corresponding to the fall in cultivated area across the districts, paddy procurement is also expected to fall according to the estimates prepared by the officials of the Tamil Nadu Civil supplies Corporation.
(With inputs from Mohamed Salahudeen B and D Vincent Arockiaraj)