Widespread showers in the delta districts and Ramanathapuram on Friday brought a ray of hope to the anxious farmers who are a worried lot over the fate of their standing samba crops. However, the quantum of rains is still not good enough and they pray for more if there is any realistic chance of saving the withering crops.
Though it was cloudy for the last three-four days in the Delta districts of Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagappattinam, the skies opened up in Nagappatinam and Tiruvarur districts only on Thursday. On Friday, there were widespread showers across the districts. “It was a welcome rain” said V Palaniappan of Tamil Nadu Senior Agro Technologists Forum (TANSAF). “Though it is drizzling all over the delta districts, we expect heavy rains on Friday night”, he added.
A senior agricultural department official hoped that the crops spread across one lakh acres would survive with more rains. “Farmers in other areas are pumping water from ponds and canals to save the crop”, he said.
Light to moderate rain forecast by the Meteorological department till the morning of Saturday in Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagappattinam districts, if materialises would be of great relief to the farmers, says an official of the Agricultural department.
Swamimalai Vimalnathan, Secretary of Thanjavur District Cauvery Farmers Protection Association said the shower in the Friday morning would not be enough to help the farmers. “We need water in the rivers to save the crops”, he added.