Harvest of early Kuruvai paddy commences, mixed trend in yield
THANJAVUR: Even as the harvest of early Kuruvai paddy crop commenced in Thanjavur district, the yield trend has been mixed. Following the comfortable storage in the Mettur dam, water was released on May 24, well ahead of the usual date of June 12, for irrigation of paddy crops in Cauvery delta districts.
Following this, Kuruvai paddy was cultivated to an extent of 72,816 hectares in Thanjavur district, which is a record in the last 49 years. "Of these, paddy on 12,500 hectares have been harvested so far," an official of the Agriculture Department told TNIE.
According to officials, most of the early Kuruvai paddy has been harvested in blocks like Kumbakonam, Tiruvidaimarudur and Tiruvaiyaru. T Murugesan of Maruthuvakudi, who had harvested the early Kuruvai crop, told TNIE that he got a yield of 36 bags of paddy, each weighing 60 kg.
"This is less than the normal yield of 45 bags per acre, I used to get", Murugesan said. He attributed the unseasonal rain to the reduction in yield. "As there was rain even during harvest, the grains have been lost while harvesting using the machine," he added.
"A few farmers in Elangadu area of Tiruvaiyaru region got even up to 51 bags per acre," said S Sivakumar of Manathidal village near Tiruvaiyaru. Meanwhile, officials have so far conducted three crop-cutting experiments.
"The yield from these experiments shows an average yield of 6,100 kg per hectare," the official added. Last year, the average yield calculated by the department was 6,400 kg per hectare. Officials have expressed the hope that this is only the early trend and yield might increase in the coming phases of harvest of Kuruvai paddy this season.