THANJAVUR/TIRUVARUR: Even as the widespread rains in the Cauvery delta districts of Thanjavur and Tiruvarur enthused farmers who have taken up samba and thalady paddy cultivation, the release of water from the Mettur reservoir for delta irrigation has been reduced.
The farmers in the delta districts commenced samba cultivation with limited storage in Mettur reservoir pinning hopes on the northeast monsoon which usually commences in the third week of October.
Meanwhile, an upper-air cyclonic circulation over the southern Tamil Nadu coast, along with another over the central parts of the southern Bay of Bengal has brought good rains across the state, including the delta districts.
During the 24-hour period that ended at 8.30 am on Sunday, Vettikkadu in Tiruvonam taluk of Thanjavur recorded the highest rainfall of 116 mm.
“This spell of rain is a welcome one as the Cauvery water was not flowing to full capacity of the canals and farmers found it difficult to irrigate their samba paddy fields and take up thalady paddy transplantation. Now these works have gathered momentum following widespread rains”, said R Sukumaran, a farmer.
T Murugesan, another farmer, said with these rains farmers who have cultivated samba paddy are into works like de-weeding. Officials say so far more than 1.30 lakh hectares were brought under samba paddy cultivation in Thanjavur and Tiruvarur districts.
Meanwhile, the water released from Mettur for irrigation in Cauvery delta districts, which was at 15,000 cusecs on October 10, has been reduced gradually to 10,000 cusecs from Sunday morning following the widespread rains.