Normally, the coverage is 12 to 13 lakh acres under Samba and the virtually concurrent Thaladi seasons, which end in late January-February/March with harvest.
| Photo Credit: File photo
The coverage of paddy during the current Samba cultivation season in the Cauvery delta this year has been almost one-third of the previous year’s achievement.
Only around 1 lakh acres were covered in the delta against 3.2 lakh acres a year ago, according to a review of the position made in the last week of September. However, farmers and officials are confident of normal Samba coverage that the region would do.
Normally, the coverage is 12 to 13 lakh acres under Samba and the virtually concurrent Thaladi seasons, which end in late January-February/March with harvest. The importance of the delta can be gauged from the fact that of around 70.5 lakh tonnes of paddy produced in the State during 2023-24, the region accounted for 38% of the total production at 26.9 lakh tonnes.
The farmers and officials attribute a number of reasons. Primarily, the late sowing during the short-term Kuruvai season has led to the current development. “The unseasonal spell of rain in February-April this year had hit the cotton crop in the region. Consequently, the affected farmers had to go for the late sowing,” explains V. Ravichandran, a veteran farmer based out of Nannilam in Tiruvarur district.
This factor coupled with the availability of sufficient water in the Mettur reservoir, the lifeline of the delta farmers, has contributed to the increase in the coverage of paddy during Kuruvai by about 2 lakh acres. This year, the coverage under the short-term season was a little more than 6 lakh acres, whereas it was approximately 3.9 lakh acres in 2024. The normal coverage hovers around 4.4 lakh acres. In fact, the authorities had expected the coverage to be of the order of 5.6 lakh acres, but the extent of area went up by about 40,000 acres. “There were no issues in supply of quality seeds and fertilizers, paving the way for the enhanced coverage,” points out a government official.
The delay in the harvest of the crop during Kuruvai is coming in the way of raising the crop during Samba. Arupathy P. Kalyanam, a seasoned farmer of the Mayiladuthurai district and general secretary of the Federation of Farmers’ Associations in the Cauvery Delta Districts, says that in his district, the harvest will have been finished in most of the fields by usually by the end of September. This time, there is, at least, 25% of the fields that remain to be harvested. This is not a healthy sign. And, when you go for the late Samba, the crop is most likely to be affected by inundation in view of the heavy rain spell during the northeast monsoon (October-December),” he says, calling for the adoption of more and more submergence-tolerant varieties.
The officials hope that the farmers will make up any shortfall of the Samba season with their coverage during Thaladi. Nearly80% of the Kuruvai area will be covered. Echoing a similar opinion, Mr. Ravichandran expects members of his farming fraternity to accelerate the momentum for raising the Samba crop this month and bring the uncovered areas under the fold of farming activity.
As on September 29, approximately 238 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) of Cauvery water was realised by Tamil Nadu at the inter-State point of Biligundulu. This meant that the State received around 116 tmcft more than what was stipulated by the Supreme Court in its judgment of February 2018 for the period commencing from June 1 to September 29.
Published – October 05, 2025 01:24 am IST
