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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | ‘NE monsoon a blessing for farmers’ -Pratiksha Ramkumar

‘NE monsoon a blessing for farmers’ -Pratiksha Ramkumar

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published Published on Nov 20, 2015   modified Modified on Nov 20, 2015
-The Times of India

COIMBATORE: Farmers across the district are a happy lot this time, as no crops were damaged in the northeast monsoon showers. They also expect a good harvest this season, thanks to the right amount of rainfall.

The district had received almost 250mm of in a span of two weeks.

Even as widespread flooding was reported in paddy fields across the Cauvery delta and southern parts of the state, farms in and around the district were not submerged. Inundation of agricultural farms was, however, reported in Thondamuthur and Periyanaickenpalayam, but excess water was drained out immediately, securing the crops.

Farmers growing black gram in Thondamuthur and bengal gram in Periyanaickenpalayam were a worried lot when heavy rain lashed the area a fortnight back. "But fortunately, water drained out completely in 48 hours as there was a lull in the rainfall," said a senior agriculture officers. While bengal gram is cultivated across 1,500 hectares in the district, black gram is cultivated across 300 hectares of land in the district.

According to agriculture officers and weather experts, the district received just the right amount of northeast monsoon showers, helping the crops rather than damaging them.

While Periyanaickenpalayam block received the highest amount of rainfall this month at 227mm, Thondamuthur reported 162.1mm of rainfall. This is the sowing season for short-term crops like maize, pulses and other millets in the district.

"Seedlings have already begun growing at the farms. There was a scare of seedlings getting spoilt if water stagnated in the fields for more than 48 hours," said the officer. "However, every two rainy days were followed by a sunny day and a cloudy day. It helped the excess water to percolates into the ground," the officer added.

Weathermen said the ideal amount of rainfall a district should receive was around 20mm every three days or so. "This will help the crops and soil absorb the right amount of water, while the remaining percolates into the ground or drains off," said the head of the Agro Climate Research Centre at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, S Paneerselvam.

"Except for banana or maybe sugarcane, no other agriculture or horticulture crops require more than 20mm rainfall every three days," concurred the district secretary of the Tamil Nadu Farmers Association, A Kandasamy.

Experts also said rainwater could be harvested better if the fall was spread out over a period of 45 days to two months. "The water gets collected in water tanks, rivers, lakes and even farm ponds, only if it rains in regular intervals," Paneerselvam pointed out.

"We need to give time for the water to start percolate and spread around the reservoirs and raise ground water levels. If it rains like in Chennai or some other parts of the state, the reservoirs will start overflowing instantly, allowing the water to simply evaporate or drain out into a channel we can't use," he said.

The Times of India, 19 November, 2015, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/NE-monsoon-a-blessing-for-farmers/articleshow/49840689.cms


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