THANJAVUR: The prospects of water release from the Mettur reservoir for irrigation of crops in the Cauvery delta on the customary date of June 12 appears bleak going by the current storage level of 81.97 feet (43.95 tmc ft). This is likely to affect kuruvai paddy coverage area.
The water level in the dam on April 14 last year was 107.59 feet (75 tmc ft). Mettur Dam will be opened on the customary date only if the water storage is more than 60 tmc ft.
Last year, water was released on June 12 as the level stood at 114.9 feet and the storage was 85.6 tmc ft. This resulted in record kuruvai paddy cultivation of 2.43 lakh hectares in the delta –— 58% more than the area covered in 2024 when the dam was opened on July 28.
“Based on the current discharge rate of 1,500 cusecs of water, this year, the dam may not be opened on June 12 as storage on that day is likely to be around 36 tmc ft,” said P Kalaivanan of Senior Agro Technologists Forum. Taking into account the water to be released by Karnataka and the onset of the northeast (NE) monsoon, it will be prudent to release water from the end of August first week, he opined.
As the canal water will not be available for kuruvai paddy cultivation, only those who have got energised borewells could cultivate kuruvai paddy this year, say farmers. “In this situation, the coverage will come down from 2.4 lakh hectares last year to around 1.35 lakh hectares in the Cauvery delta,” said Kalaivanan.
“Only if the southwest monsoon brings more rain to the Cauvery catchment areas will kuruvai cultivation be possible in Nagapattinam. Otherwise only samba cultivation can be taken up,” said S R Tamilselvan of the Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Protection Association.
In Thanjavur, kuruvai paddy was cultivated on around 79,000 hectares last year. This year, this will come down to under 60,000 hectares, said agriculture officials. Similarly in Tiruvarur, paddy was cultivated on 77,573 hectares last year. The coverage will come down to around the normal of 39,000 hectares if the water is not released on time, officials added.
While noting that below-normal rainfall has been forecast during the southwest monsoon, Kalaivanan said the NE monsoon is expected to dump heavy rains. “
Those who cultivate kuruvai using pumpsets must complete sowing before June 30. There should be no sowing from July 1 to August 15 as the crops sown then will be affected in the NE monsoon,” he added.
(With inputs from Mohamed Salahudeen B@ Nagapattinam)