The Hindu : Pathetic situation in rice bowl

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 09, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Pathetic situation in rice bowl

By G. Srinivasan

Cattle grazing withered paddy crop on the field of the handicapped farmer, Vijayakumar, at Silamban Pazhangandur in Thanjavur district.

THANJAVUR Jan. 8 . Two farmers have died under controversial circumstances. The water level in the Mettur reservoir will soon hit the rock-bottom. There are no signs of rain. And Karnataka has shown no inclination to release water in the Cauvery. The situation in the delta districts is alarming and farmers, who will normally be ready for a `Pongal harvest', just do not know what to do now.

A tour of Thanjavur and Tiruvarur districts, considered Tamil Nadu's rice bowl, presents a pathetic picture. A majority of the farmers have thrown their hand in; and let cattle graze their paddy fields — so that at least the animals can survive. Conservative estimates put the crop loss, even now, at over 40 per cent. By month-end, it can well be double that, unless something miraculous happens.

The farmers say if water is released till January-end, they can save at least half of the crop.

But there are no clear indications yet how long the supply, even on a turn system, can be maintained. Authorities in the Public Works department say unless Karnataka releases some 10 tmcft, at least after the Cauvery River Authority meeting next week, they may not have any water to supply.

The district administration is worried on many counts — first, the reports of suicide by farmers have triggered panic; second, political parties and farmers' associations have warned of massive agitations if no solution is found to the crisis and third, a contingency plan to provide employment for the farm labour has to be finalised to prevent `starvation deaths' or more `suicides'.

As for the farmers, they are concerned not just about the immediate future but at the "debt trap" they may be falling into. There was no kuruvai crop worth the name this year. Samba is withering now, but debts are mounting. "How can we survive? How do we repay the loans? If our families cannot have two square meals, what will workers do?" wondered a farmer at Orathanadu, Thanjavur district.

A handicapped farmer, Vijayakumar, has let cattle graze on his field. He has spent Rs. 20,000 on raising the samba crop on five acres, through direct sowing. Obviously, he has to write off the money.

The farmers are critical of `water management' by the PWD and asserted that at no point of time did the authorities release 9,000 cusecs into the Vennar to ensure supply in tail-end areas.

There were a couple of heavy downpours, but the rain was not beneficial for cultivation of the medium or long-term crop, they argued.

Farm workers' woes

If the lot of the farmers is pathetic, the plight of the farm workers can well be imagined. Apart from daily wages, they used to get a bag of paddy for every 10 bags harvested — as wages in `kind'.

Now, they flock to ration shops but are unable to draw more than 10 kg of rice as they will have to pay Rs. 6 a kg beyond the 10-kg limit. Many of them are looking for odd jobs.

According to official sources, the samba crop was raised on nearly 70,000 hectares in Thanjavur district and direct sowing was done on 14,000 hectares.

In Tiruvarur district, the crop was raised on 1,14,592 ha, with direct sowing done on 50,617 ha.

Out of this area, the crop was good only on 36,000 ha, it is said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States