Coffee, pepper crops wilt as summer bears down on Vathalamalai in Tamil Nadu
DHARMAPURI: Tribal residents in Vathalamalai are facing their harshest drought ever and it may take up to three years to recover, especially when a major portion of their pepper and coffee plantations have dried out from the intense heat wave.
Vathalamalai is a hill hamlet located 25 km from the Dharmapuri district headquarters. Located atop a 1,418-metre-high hill, the unique climatic conditions prove favourable for the cultivation of pepper and coffee. Both coffee and pepper are raised in the vast Silver Oak Plantations set up here, as they each augment the growth of one another.
A major portion of the pepper and coffee plants have wilted due to the harsh summer season and water scarcity atop the hill. “It may take upto three years for us to regrow these cash crops,” farmers in Vathalmalai predicted.
Speaking to TNIE, G Ramasamy from Palsilambu, said, “In Vathalmalai, we had been growing silver oak with a gap of 4 ft between each tree. But this left a large portion of our land vacant. So a decade ago, people here started introducing pepper on the silver oak trees and they started growing it in tandem with the trees.
This still left space available for us and we learned coffee cultivation from Yercaud. So for the past five years, we had these three crops improving our livelihood and bettering our lives. Now with the harsh heatwave and the lack of water, the pepper and coffee plants are dying.”
Another farmer, R Kaliappan from Periyur said, “It takes about three years for one pepper vine to give us a yield of 1 kg and in the case of coffee a plant could provide us between 3 to 5 kg of coffee beans. In Vathalmalai most are small farmers and own less than two acres. So on average we plant over 400 silver oak per acre and make the pepper vines grown on these trees. Further we can plant over 700 coffee in between trees. Roughly, a kilogramme of pepper is sold at `700 per kg and coffee at `300 per kg. But this year, the peppers started failing and we have to start from scratch.”
When TNIE spoke to officials in the Agriculture Department they said, “Vathalamalai has less than 200 acres of coffee and pepper plantations and we would assess the situation and take steps to ensure welfare of farmers.”
TN to move SC over Cauvery water row
Chennai: Minister for Water Resources Duraimurugan announced on Wednesday that the state government will move Supreme Court to secure its rightful share of Cauvery water from Karnataka. On the occasion of May Day, Minister Duraimurugan, accompanied by DMK leaders, paid homage at the May Day memorial in May Day Park. Responding to inquiries regarding the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee’s rejection of Tamil Nadu’s plea to release its backlog of Cauvery water, Duraimurugan said, “Even if Karnataka has ample water, they refuse to fulfil our demand.
We will seek our due share through legal channels in the Supreme Court.” Meanwhile, MDMK general secretary Vaiko condemned the CWRC chairman’s remarks, echoing Karnataka’s stance. In a critical tone, TMC(M) President GK Vasan accused the DMK government of prioritising its electoral alliance with the Congress over securing the states Cauvery water share. Earlier in the day, Left party leaders raised their party flags at their respective offices to mark May Day. TNCC President K Selvaperunthagai also paid respects at May Day memorial.
‘DECLARE Salem, K’giri, D’puri drought-hit’
Chennai : PMK president Dr Anbumani Ramadoss has urged the state government to declare Salem, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri as drought-hit and provide `1 lakh compensation per acre for mango and papaya farmers in the districts. In a statement, he said since most of the waterbodies in the districts have dried up and the groundwater table has depleted, mango and papaya farmers are forced to purchase water from tankers for irrigation. According to his estimates, mango farmers have faced a loss of `1.5 lakh per acre while papaya farmers encountered a loss of `1 lakh per acre. He also said the state government should take steps to fix the minimum support price of `50 per kg of mango procured by processing units.