The Hindu : Even next kuruvai prospects are bleak

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 16, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Even next kuruvai prospects are bleak

By S.Vydhianathan

Thanjavur Feb. 15. Normally, this is `boom time' for the delta region and its farmers. The crop would have been harvested; the granary would be full; the rice mills would be working overtime and the procurement centres buzzing with activity. But this is an abnormal year, a dismal one, to say the least. The fields are parched, the crop is blighted and the cattle are grazing the withered crop.

An uncertain future looms large over lives of thousands of farmers. The prospects are worse for labourers. If anything, the situation is set to worsen in the coming months. It is still not clear how much of the crop can be saved in Tamil Nadu's `rice bowl' of Thanjavur.

Even the prospects of raising the next kuruvai are bleak, as the storage in the Mettur reservoir is abysmally low. With the current storage of just 10 tmcft, against the full storage of 94 tmcft, opening of the reservoir on the scheduled date (June 12) is out of the question. Even if the southwest monsoon brings copious rain in the Cauvery catchments, it would only help the next samba and not the kuruvai.

So the farmers have to do without a fourth successive crop. While the previous samba was washed out owing to heavy rain in February last at harvest time, kuruvai and the samba were lost in succession this year, thanks to Karnataka "intransigence" and monsoon failure. The successive crop failures have dealt a crippling blow to the rural economy of the composite Thanjavur district, once known as the granary of Tamil Nadu.

A melancholic atmosphere has gripped the delta region with farmers looking distraught. There are only shrubs and weeds. Many fields have developed cracks.

Same tale of woe

Farmers, be they from Kumbakonam, Pattukottai, Muthupettai, Tiruvarur or Nagapattinam, have the same tale of woe to tell: they spent their last paise with the hope of saving the crop. Had they harvested at least one half of the normal yield, they would have been satisfied. Unfortunately, in most of the areas, crops withered and farmers allowed cattle to graze on the fields. Even in areas, where farmers saved the crop to a certain extent, the yield was very poor. Against the normal yield of five tonnes a hectare, they harvest only one tonne. Not only their samba failed, even pulse cultivation, usually undertaken after paddy harvest, was not possible now. Pulses gave them a substantial income, equivalent to that of paddy.

Only farmers having pumpsets have managed to save part of the crop. But they too had difficulty, as power supply in rural areas was erratic.

At Eachenkottai near Pattukottai, a farmer having five acres and spent about Rs. 15,000, had only chaff to harvest. With six mouths, a wife and five children, to feed, the farmer burst into tears. "What am I to say? You see for yourself." For him, a life of dignity would be a problem. "I thought that I would get at least 50 bags — enough for my sustenance. Now everything is lost."

Farmers were unanimous criticising Karnataka for the unprecedented situation. Had it released a substantial quantity in one bout, instead of in instalments, they could have saved at least 50 per cent of the crop.

S.Ranganthan of the Delta Farmers Welfare Association said the State did not get water at a time when it was needed. But when it received water, it was too little and too late. Never before had the delta farmers lost three successive crops.

The farmers charged politicians with exploiting the situation for their `narrow' political gains. Even if the Chief Minister established the State's rights over Cauvery, it was of no use. "It is a case of operation success, but patient dead."

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