THOOTHUKUDI: Climate change-induced heavy downpour and soaring cultivation costs have pushed several farmers in the rain-fed regions of the district to gradually switch to maize cultivation. The cultivated area of maize crossed 2 lakh acres in 2025-2026, as against the 1.16 lakh acres three years ago.
Thoothukudi has been a major place of cultivation of pulses like black gram and green gram, and major millets like maize (corn), sorghum (Jowar), and cumbu (pearl millet), and vegetables like chilli, coriander, and cucumber. However, the changing rain patterns due to cloud bursts, intense flooding, extended northeast monsoon season, and severe winter have been posing challenges for the farmers in cultivating pulses, which cannot withstand severe rains and stagnation.
A farmer, S Navaneedhan of Gopalapuram near Kovilpatti, said the shifts in rain pattern are not conducive for black gram and green gram crops. "The crops will decay if the farmland gets stagnated for a few days," he said, adding that the yield drops due to the vagaries of the weather.
R Narayanasamy of Achankulam said the monsoon season extending till January spoils the harvest of fully-grown crops standing with grains, thus affecting the yield and the remuneration. As maize is a five-month crop, it can sustain unexpected rain in January, he said.
Farmers who had switched to maize also mentioned the low-cost maintenance required for the crop, compared to growing pulses. Black gram and green gram yield three to six quintals per acre, while maize yields 15-30 quintals. The harvesting cost of maize is considerably lower, the farmers said.
The data on acreage shows that maize, which was cultivated in 1,16,673 acres in 2023-2024, has steadily increased to 1,52,269 acres in 2024-2025, and to 2,00,506 acres in 2025-2026. Simultaneously, the cultivation of pulses, such as black gram and green gram, and millets like Sorghum and cumbu have been gradually declining since 2023-2024. The cultivation of black gram stood at 1,48,458 acres in 2023-2024, which declined to 1,41,902 acres in the next year, and 97,765 acres in the following year. Green gram cultivation nearly halved from 34,399 acres in 2023-2024 to 14,952 acres in 2024-2025. Meanwhile, sorghum cultivation shrank from 17,389 acres in 2023-2024 to 10,601 acres in 2025-2026. Further, the cultivation of cumbu gradually reduced from 24,785 acres during 2023-24 to 17,668 acres in 2025-2026, according to data.
A senior agriculture officer said that the acreage of maize has almost doubled in the past three years. It has two advantageous factors, with one being withstanding severe rainfall and the other being high demand. Also, there is a huge demand in the cattle feed and fodder markets, adding that over 50 private companies manufacturing poultry (cattle) feed are purchasing large quantities of corn from farmers, he said.