As kuruvai fails, drought-hit Delta farmers in TN seek government action to tackle El Niño

TIRUCHY: Farmers have appealed to the government to provide proper suggestions and provide on field tests, as the newly introduced drought-resistant crop varieties failed to produce sufficient yield.

At the same time, they have complained that the District Agricultural Contingency Plans to tackle the El Niño as per the announcement made in the Agri Budget have not reached them.

Agriculture Minister R Vinoth, during the agriculture budget, promised that the government is prepared to face severe climatic impacts of El Niño and announced that the District Agricultural Contingency Plans prepared by the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University for all districts had been communicated to the District Collectors, and all necessary steps had been taken to implement the recommended contingency measures comprehensively.

“We have not so far been informed about the preparations to tackle El Niño. We have already lost kuruvai in the Delta region, and samba cultivation is still doubtful due to the drought condition resulting from El Niño. There are several drought-tolerant paddy seeds already introduced, but practically they failed in most of the places”, said Cauvery V Dhanapalan, General Secretary, Cauvery Farmers Protection Association.

Dhanapalan pointed out that the discussion by the officials themselves would never help any farmer during such crisis times. He charged that the officials would arrive at a decision that would never be practical.

“Even after the information about El Niño has been spreading so fast, no one has come out to give us suggestions nor get our views. We are ultimately vulnerable to nature's fury. The impact of El Niño would be witnessed by next year as the cultivation has failed. The government has to wake up as early as possible and sensitise the farmers and prepare them for the upcoming climatic change,” Dhanapalan said.

He also charged that the state government, which has declared the Delta as Protected Special Agriculture Zone in 2020, but still no scheme has been implemented nor any fund allocated to launch any scheme to boost agriculture in the region.

“Now, the TVK government is getting ready to purchase vehicles for legislators but has failed to revive waterbodies in the region. There are several hundred abandoned waterbodies. If they were revived, it could have stored water and been used during these crisis times,” Dhanapalan added.