Much of Kuruvai crop gone, Tamil Nadu farmers hope to salvage at least samba

Farmers in Tamil Nadu's Cauvery delta region face uncertain future

When the sluices of Stanley reservoir in Mettur were opened on time in June, 63-year-old Natarajan was hoping for a successful two-crop cycle –kuruvai (short-term) and samba (long-term) - like last year. 

Three months down the line, Natarajan, who owns three acres of land in Semmangudi village in Thanjavur district, isn’t sure whether he can save even one crop of paddy, let alone two, being solely dependent on water from River Cauvery. 

Mohan, a farmer from Kodavasal in Thiruvarur district, finds himself in a similar situation. 

He skipped cultivating kuruvai this year and is now hoping against hope that he can harvest at least samba crop, which he sowed just a week ago. 

The fate of farmers in the fertile Cauvery delta region hangs in balance as the region did not receive the expected amount of water from the river for irrigation this year. 

The discharge of water from the dam, from where it usually flows till December, was stopped on October 9, adding to woes of the farmers.

Tamil Nadu’s realisation of Cauvery water this southwest monsoon is just 45.16 tmcft as against 123.06 tmcft, due to rainfall deficit. 

Government data shows samba coverage in the delta is down by 1.5 lakh acres as on September 25, 2023, when compared to the same period last year.

The government has formally declared compensation for 40,000 acres of land where kuruvai crops have withered due to less availability of water. 

“A majority of the farmers are in two minds on raising samba crop this year as there is no guarantee of water because they have already suffered enough in kuruvai crop season,” ‘Cauvery’ S Dhanapalan, general secretary, Cauvery Farmers’ Protection Association, told DH. 

Farmers in the delta had “good crop years” from 2017 to 2022 after several years as Mettur dam brimmed with water thanks to heavy rain in Cauvery catchment areas of Karnataka. 

Distress knocked at their doors this year as monsoon failed. 

“Kuruvai is taking unusually long this time as the crops didn’t get adequate water on time. The yield will certainly be less and I will lose at least Rs 30,000 this year. I have invested double the amount as we had to sow twice. If only the north east monsoon is normal, we can make some money this year,” Natarajan told DH.

While Karnataka didn’t release water on time, farmers also blame the TN government for ‘inadequate planning’ for kuruvai.

The outflow from Mettur dam didn’t cross 10,000 cusec a day against the demand of 18,000 to 22,000 cusec for irrigating about 5 lakh acres of kuruvai crop. 

“The government didn’t have a proper plan though it announced the kuruvai package. They should have assessed the ground realities before opening the sluice gates. Instead of releasing water continuously, they staggered it. The end result is tail-end areas didn’t get water,” said P R Pandian of the coordination committee of All Farmers’ Associations of Tamil Nadu.

Cultivating paddy, which is water intensive, on a large area has also added to the woes of the delta farmers.

Farmers say since the region is rich in alluvial soil which has higher percentage of clay and less percentage of sand, paddy is the only crop that grows easily there.