Gale kills summer rain joy of plantain farmers

The rain, accompanied by stormy winds, instead brought more distress and agony to the hapless farmers. For, lakhs of plantain crops raised in Coimbatore, The Nilgiris, Erode and Tirupur districts were destroyed in the strong gale causing huge loss to farmers.

Forty-five-year-old S Udaya Kumar, a farmer from Puliampara village in Gudalur was hoping for a bumper harvest. “But unexpected winds destroyed over 1,200, out of the 2,000 ‘nendran’ crop raised in my farm, taken on lease,” he said. More than 45,000 plantain crops were damaged in Gudalur, which has a maximum area under banana cultivation in the whole of The Nilgiris district. Even farmers, who were traditionally into carrot and beetroot cultivation, have moved over to banana cultivation over the last decade for rich returns.

After a few years of good harvest, the farmers have now begun to feel the pinch. “We raised ‘nendran’, a 13-month crop, with a plan to harvest during Onam festival. Last year, the farmers couldn’t get proper pricing due to floods in Kerala. This time around, it’s even worse as we are now staring at a severe loss,” said Balakrishnan, another farmer from the same neighbourhood.

Like many other farmers, Udaya Kumar had taken a loan of Rs 50,000 from a co-operative bank, pledged jewels for Rs 1.25 lakh to meet out the cultivation expenses. “I had incurred a loss of Rs 3 lakh. I am unsure as to how I would return the borrowed money, he said.

Other farmers have taken an advance amount from mediators for their large bookings. Farmers claimed that this is the first time they have faced severe loss due to winds, which has struck unusually in the month of April.

“The windy season is yet to start, but the gale that struck was unprecedented,” the farmers claimed. Shiva Subramaniam Samraj, Joint Director (in-charge), Horticulture Department, The Nilgiris said that plantain crops raised in 45 hectares were damaged in winds in Gudalur area.

“About 1,000 plantains were damaged per hectare. So a total of around 45,000 plantains were destroyed. We have sent a report on the extent of damage to the government to decide on the compensation to be paid to farmers. This is for the first time, plantain farms were damaged on such a large-scale,” he said. In Erode district too, more than 50,000 plantains raised in Anthiyur, Telungupalayam, Gobi and surrounding areas were damaged unable to withstand the fury of the strong gale.

“More than 10,000 farmers have raised ‘kathali,’ ‘nendran’ and ‘Poovan’ varieties in the Erode belt. Farmers are now struggling to recover from this huge loss,” said CM Thulasimani, Erode district secretary of Tamil Nadu Agriculturists Association.

Similarly, vast stretches of plantain farms in Salem, Tirupur and Coimbatore district too have borne the brunt of a strong gale.

Many of the farmers has also not opted for crop insurance due to high premium amount and issues in claiming the compensation in case of such damage.