A pall of gloom fell over the rain-ravaged paddy belt of upper Kuttanad as heavy summer showers left many fields waterlogged.
The waterlogging of the field has made mechanised paddy harvest difficult, literally leaving the hapless farmers who have been dreaming of a bumper crop, this time in dire straits.
According to Peringara grama panchayat president Sam Eapen who is also the Upper Kuttanad Nel-karshaka Samiti president, the unprecedented rain has already inflicted heavy financial loss on the farming community in the region.
The paddy harvested in the Kodamkery paddy fields was drenched in rainwater and the farm workers had a hard time shifting the paddy from the waterlogged field on Wednesday.
Spelling doom
Mr. Eapen told The Hindu that the rain had badly affected the harvest in the paddy fields of Vadavady, Chathankary, and Kodamkery. The heavy rain, coupled with the opening of the Thanneermukkom bund shutters three days ago, had spelled doom for the paddy farmers in this part of Kuttanad, Mr. Eapen said.
Lack of coordination
Lack of co-ordination among the district authorities in Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, and Kottayam resulted in the opening of the bund shutters before the completion of paddy harvest in Upper Kuttanad.
It would take three-and-a-half hours for the combine harvesters to harvest the paddy in an acre of land since the fields are flooded, inflicting an additional burden of Rs.5,000 per acre on the farmer for harvest alone.
