MADURAI: Despite the samba cultivation season having commenced over one and a half months ago, sowing has been carried out in just around 6,400 hectares in the district. As irrigation woes are still plaguing the farmers, those practising single and double-crop cultivation have demanded the authorities to release water from the Vaigai River at the earliest.
Compared to the previous years, the storage levels at Periyar and Vaigai dams are lower this year. Considering this slump in storage, water from these reservoirs has not yet been released for irrigation this year. A senior PWD official said the storage has nominally increased to 5.5 TMC following the decent rainfall last month.
Farmers, who usually cultivate crops during both kuruvai and samba seasons, have urged the authorities to immediately raise dam shutters as they had already missed out on the kuruvai cultivation this year owing to irrigation woes. The PWD department convened a meeting with the farmers recently to discuss when to release the water. Anticipating good showers and subsequent rise in reservoir water levels in November, the officials have decided to meet the farmers again in November and fix a date for the water release.
Though the districts had witnessed decent rainfall last month, the Periyar dam storage remains at 123.8 feet and a total of 6 TMC water is available. Meanwhile, both single and double-crop farmers have demanded the officials to release water for them separately.
An agriculture department official said the samba season would usually commence in September and conclude in January. However, most farmers are yet to begin even sowing work. Considering the irrigation crisis, the officials have suggested the farmers grow millets this year as the crop has a shorter cultivation duration. The district has a total paddy cultivable area of nearly 36,000 hectares.
Kurnji Kumaran, a single-crop farmer from Melur, said, "As per a government order, single-crop cultivation should be given first preference while releasing water. The officials should adhere to this order as even a shared release practice will deny water to farmers in tail-end areas like me. We have decided to meet the officials and request them to release later this week itself."
Meanwhile, the double crop farmers said cultivation was taken up in just 1,200 hectares of area during the kuruvai season. "Most farmers missed the season owing to inadequate water for irrigation. So, since the first season failed, we are relying completely on the samba season. So, we request the state government to release the water on a shared basis so that all the farmers can begin cultivation," they added.
MP Raman, honorary president of the Tamil Nadu Federation of All Farmers Association, said water has to be released to all farmers in the district without any partiality. If the release is further delayed, the water will be of no use to farmers, he further said.