TIRUCHY: Water from Mettur is opened for use on the customary date of June 12 and closes mandatorily on January. However, many factors delayed Samba cultivation this cycle and farmers from the Delta districts urge that the water supply be extended until the end of February to reach the samba target.

According to the farmers, at least 1.75 TMC water is needed each day to go ahead with samba cultivation activities. With the goal fixed around 14 lakh-acre for the Samba schedule, Tiruvarur district had surpassed the target with an area of 3.60 lakh acres, Nagapattinam with 2.55 lakh acres, Thanjavur with 3.26 lakh acres and Tiruchy with 1.50 lakh acres. Apart from this, Thaladi cultivation has been undertaken in an area of 3 lakh acres in the Delta region.

Due to the crop damage following the Ditwah cyclone and the Northeast monsoon fury, sceptical farmers delayed the Samba cultivation process, postponing the actual schedule, and hence, the required water was also expected for a long time.

"As the crop damage assessment was delayed due to various factors, there was a delay in readying the land for the samba cultivation, and so the water was also needed for longer than the usual mandatory dates," said farmer Nannilam G Sethuraman.

Sethuraman also pointed out that, when the Mettur is opened on the customary date of June 12, it is mandatory to close the Mettur on January 28. "But this time, the samba cultivation was delayed, and so the harvest, which would be scheduled in January, might extend till March. So the water release should be extended till the end of February, which would ensure water reaching the tail end parts of every district in the delta," Sethuraman said.