TIRUCHY: The unseasonal rain over the past few days has elicited mixed reactions from gingelly farmers in the district. While it has aided in the irrigation of the summer crop for those who have just taken up its cultivation, farmers in some villages of Lalgudi block, where gingelly is predominantly raised in the district, complain of crop damage from inundation of fields following the downpour.
N Veerasegaran of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh said, "In Lalgudi the crop in a good number of villages that have opted for gingelly cultivation has not reached the flowering stage. Normally when there is heavy rain the flowers would wither and cause losses to the farmers. But many farmers in Lalgudi say that the summer rain has spared them the work of irrigating the crop and that the crop is growing healthily in the rain." A Vetrivel, a farmer in Lalgudi, said,
"The summer rain has taken away all the soil heat. It has helped gingelly, banana and sugarcane farmers and the crops appear to be healthy after the rain." Thangamani a farmer of Koohur, however, complained of losses from the rain. "We are suffering a complete loss in gingelly cultivation as there is water stagnation in our fields. The crop over around 50 acres in our village has been spoiled in the summer rain."
Sources said other villages such as Mandurai, Nagar, Marudur and Thirumangalam also suffered losses in the unseasonal rain. When contacted, an Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department official said, "The harsh effect of summer rains is seen in farmlands that were already irrigated and whose soil type is clayey. Farmers who have not irrigated their crops yet will, however, appreciate the summer rains as they would help them. If farmers demand relief we will undertake a survey to identify affected areas."