Mudukulathur farmer reaps benefit of saving rain water

Adhilingam, the farmer, credits efficient water management for it. By escaping the wrath of drought by handling water resourcefully he has set an example for other farmers to follow. Ramanathapuram is one of the driest districts in the state and is a semiarid region. Though the average rainfall of the district is 827 mm the district receives entire rainfall in just two months, mostly during the north east monsoon season. But in 2016 the monsoon failed terribly across the state and this district is no exception. Adhilingam planted paddy in his four acres of land. 

Speaking to DTNext, he said that he had expected good rainfall this year just like 2015 and planted paddy in his land. But to the utter disappointment, the monsoon failed terribly this year. However, he has not gone into despair as he arranged ways to recharge his well. He had arranged the channels around his farm in such a way that all rainwater will reach his well. 

“Even the water that runs off the street will fall into this well,” he said and added “this has helped me to maintain the water level quite high compared to other wells in the area.” “With this I am able to irrigate the paddy crop I has planted,” Adhilingam said. 

Most of the farmers do not take steps to save the rain water into their wells, he said and claimed that he has been saving the rain water for years together and hence has no issues in cultivating paddy even during the worst of times such as the present one. Another main factor he attributed for his success was rational use of bore water. 

“I have a bore, but the water flow was too low. Sometimes I will be able to use it for just 30 minutes. But as a precaution I restrict the usage to 15 minutes,” Adhilingam said. Such management allows the land to get better recharge of ground water in quick time. 

“Such simple water management techniques have helped me all these years to use the well water during the four months of cultivation, uninterruptedly,” the farmer beamed.