Convene meeting before opening Mettur gates, farmers urge TN govt
As the prediction of rainfall by RMC officials has proved time to time again every year, it is apt to make their presence in the meeting so that the farmers could plan their preparations
Members of Tamil Nadu Tank and River Irrigation Farmers Association staging a demonstration at the Thanjavur Collectorate
TIRUCHY: Lauding the announcement of the release of water from Mettur on its customary date of June 12, the farmers demanded that the State government convene a meeting with the farmers before May 15 to discuss the kuruvai target and the possibility of early cultivation.
“Usually, the Delta farmers commence the preparatory works for kuruvai cultivation in the second week of May, and so the meeting would be beneficial to the farmers if it were convened before May 15,” said Swamimalai Sundara Vimalnathan, Secretary, Tamil Nadu Cauvery Farmers Protection Association.
The association appealed to the state government to ensure the presence of officials from the departments like Agriculture, Water Resources, Food and Cooperative and the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) and discuss elaborately on the kuruvai cultivation process and the possibility of early kuruvai cultivation.
As the prediction of rainfall by RMC officials has proved time to time again every year, it is apt to make their presence in the meeting so that the farmers could plan their preparations.
“These RMC officials’ predictions are accurate up to six months ahead; their suggestions would play a vital role in cultivation,” Vimalnathan said. These interactions between officials and farmers could form a plan for realising the kuruvai target.
Vimalnathan said that such meetings, which were in practice in the early years, had not been convened for the past three years, and the farmers were in a dilemma whether to take up early kuruvai cultivation and ensure achieving the target, he added.
