Irrigation shortages in Tamil Nadu’s delta districts have created a fresh hurdle for paddy cultivation, with farmers struggling to transplant seedlings raised on about 1,400 acres.
The delta region—including Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Mayiladuthurai—primarily grows paddy in two seasons, Kuruvai and Samba. A large share of the harvest from these seasons is procured under the government’s foodgrain programme.
This year, water was not released in June for Kuruvai irrigation due to inadequate storage in the Mettur dam. For Samba cultivation, water release began on September 1, with an announcement that it would continue for the next 45 days.
As of Tuesday, about 12,000 cusecs were being released. However, farmers report that dry waterways in the delta have not been sufficiently wetted, and even major canals are not receiving adequate flow.
Believing that water would reach their fields, farmers have completed paddy transplantation on around 22,000 acres so far. But the seedlings now ready for transplanting—raised on 1,400 acres—could cover roughly 14,000 to 21,000 acres, and are at risk of drying up if irrigation does not improve soon.
