
NAGAPATTINAM: Thousands of farmer families in the Nagapattinam district are having a lacklustre Pongal as several thousands of acres of paddy in mature and harvest stage were damaged due to the recent unseasonal rains. K Venkatesan, a 52-year-old farmer from Meenamanallur village in Keelaiyur block, said, "I had cultivated paddy on around 15 acres.
When rain affected the crop around 30% were in harvest stage, while the rest in the mature stage. Naturally, we are not happy even though it is festival time." The harvest festival is a time to rejoice. Often a few days prior to the harvest festival, farmers here reap their paddy crops, thresh the crops, extract the grains, winnow the grains and separate the rice. On the Pongal Day the women cook the rice, chant 'Pongal-O-Pongal' as the boiled rice flows out of the pot and offer it to Sun God. However, this Pongal time they are not in a mood to celebrate following the crop damage. The fields with crops in mature stage and harvest stage were inundated for days due to rains in December and January. Around 8,319 hectares out of 65,554 hectares of samba and thaladi crops were damaged due to heavy rains in December in Nagapattinam district. Around 21 hectares of 399 hectares of groundnut crops were affected, says agriculture and farmers' welfare department. Some farmers affected by rains are still hoping to revive their crops after draining their fields. However, the rains still pour intermittently.
"Around five acres of my samba crops in mature stage are affected due to rains. It was our only crop of the year after we could not cultivate kuruvai. Reviving the lodged crops is challenging," said VR Saravanan from Thalaignayiru-1 village in the Thalaignayiru block. The farmers are demanding `35,000 per acre from the state government under disaster management funds for the crop loss due to the rains. A senior official from the agriculture and farmers' welfare department in Nagapattinam said, "An enumeration survey is being conducted by officials from the revenue and the agriculture departments to recommend for the relief."