THANJAVUR: The coconut fruit buds (kurumbai) are all over the place, on the ground. S Nagarajan, a coconut farmer at Kuruvikkarambai in Thanjavur district, could do nothing but stare at the tall trees in his grove, for he knows the sight is just the forerunner of the heavy yield loss that he would face in the months to come.
Blame it on the heat prevailing in the area for the last so many weeks, says a visibly disturbed Nagarajan pointing at the buds. “Naturally this will lead to yield loss during the coming plucking time,” he adds.
It’s not just Nagarajan’s plight. For the farmers through out the Delta, the situation is the same. N Sundararajan, a coconut farmer from Kuruchi near Pattukkottai, adds another reason for the falling coconut fruit buds. “Earlier, the breeze from the sea nearby would be cooler and helped retain the moisture in the air, thereby helping the kurumbai stay in the spathe (a curved bract) itself. But, the ocean temperature has now increased and the breeze is no longer cool,” says Sundararajan. His claims have been confirmed by a study by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) which pointed out that ocean temperature hit a record high in February.
Another problem faced by the coconut farmers in the delta region has been the depleting groundwater level. “The groundwater which was available at 80-100 feet has now gone below 200 feet. I am not able to pump enough to irrigate my entire grove that has 1,100 trees spread over 15 acres,” says R Palanivelu, a farmer from Therkukottai village near Pappanadu in Thanjavur district.
Adding to their woes, the farmers are facing an erratic power supply. “Though the officials claim power supply is being ensured for 12 hours (6 hours in the morning and 6 hours in the night) through the dedicated three-phase grid meant for agriculture purpose, we don’t know the exact schedule when the power will be available. At times, it so happens that the power goes off when we were about to water the grove,” points out V Veerasenan, another coconut farmer from Ponnavarayankottai village.
The president of the East Coast Coconut Farmers Association (EFFA), EV Gandhi, points out that the full impact of the current heatwave on the coconut yield will be known only in another 10-12 months as coconut is a year-long crop.
The absence of summer rains is also another factor contributing to the worries of the coconut farmers. “Normally, we should have received one or two spells of summer rain by this time. But this year that did not happen,” says Nagarajan, pointing out at the importance of summer rains as it will help pollinate coconut flowers. “The dearth of summer rains reduces the pollination which will lead to yield loss,” he adds.
The farmers pluck coconuts once in 60 days, from the trees. “We used to pluck nuts from three bunches (kulai) from each tree which usually yields 60 to 70 nuts in total. Now, I could pluck only from two bunches that yields less than 40 nuts in total,” says Palanivelu. He attributes the drop in yield to the stoppage of water from Mettur dam from October 10, 2023, instead of the regular date of January 28, due to poor storage level. The prevailing heat conditions will reduce the yield further in the coming months, Palanivelu adds.
When pointed out at the recent reports of farmers from Coimbatore and Tiruppur districts felling the coconut trees due to drought-like conditions, Gandhi says the farmers of the delta district would not go to such extremes as the groves here are irrigated either through canal irrigation or using groundwater.
R Arunkumar, associate professor and head of Coconut Research Station at Veppankulam in Thanjavur district, told TNIE farmers are advised to undertake sub-soil drip irrigation to manage the scorching heat. The farmers were also advised to spread the coconut fronds around the base of the tree to reduce evaporation of water, he adds.
Coimbatore and Tiruppur that have a combined cultivated area of 82,000 hectares are one of the major coconut cultivating areas in the state. Pollachi coconut and tender coconut are well-received in the market. The long-term crop is severely affected by the whitefly attack and the Kerala wilt attack already. Adding to the woes, farmers are suffering due to various problems such as low procurement prices for coconuts, and the failure of both the monsoon last year. Now due to the unprecedented drought, coconut trees are drying up.
Currently, the coconut trees are severely affected by the drought in the PAP irrigation belt in Coimbatore and Tirupur district, says Medical K Paramasivam, chairman of Thirumurthy irrigation project committee in Parambikulam Aliyar Project (PAP), adding as most of the coconut trees have dried up, the farmers are cutting down the trees. “Therefore, we demand the area be declared as drought hit. Compensation should be given for dried and felled coconut trees,” he says.
Paramasivam also sought for financial assistance from the government for the replanting the coconut saplings.
In Madurai, where coconut is being planted in over 10,000 hectares in areas like Vadipatti, Solavanthan and Kottampatti blocks, the story is no different. Speaking to TNIE, N Arun, a coconut farmer from Kottampatti, says, “Usually a single coconut weighs around 400 grams, but this time, nuts of smaller sizes, weighing 200 grams, are seen, resulting in low price for the produce. An average size coconut goes for `8 and smaller coconut would fetch only for `3.5. Though some farmers opt to convert these into copra through which they could get better prices, many who are not used to copra processing are forced to sell them at lesser prices.”
Farmers also say the increasing temperature is affecting their yield, and is adding to attacks by pests like white flies which could greatly affect the coconut trees.
“One of the natural remedies for controlling the pest is the summer rain we usually get in May, but this year apart from a few drizzles, there was no rain till now. We fear that the pest attack will increase, as summer saso has just started,” they add.
(With inputs from M Saravanan @ Coimbatore and MS Thanaraj @ Madurai)