The summer showers have come as a blessing to the farmers of Uppliyapuram block where kuruvai cultivation is apace.
Though there is paucity of labour, the copious groundwater seems to have enthused farmers about the season’s prospects. Durairaj, a farmer of Nettavelampatti in Patchaiperumalpatti village panchayat, says that he had cultivated kuruvai crop after a gap of about four years on an acre of land.
He anticipates a yield of about 30 bags, which, he says, will be sufficient for his family of four for one year. Since the ‘Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme’ has crowded out farm labourers, I have to utilise the service of farmhands who are not members of the scheme, he said. “The wage for each labourer for four hours of transplanting nurseries is Rs. 80,” he said.
Agriculture department officials say that most farmers have raised ‘ADT 43’ or ‘ADT 45’ variety with duration of 110 days.
About 1,000 hectares were expected to be covered under kuruvai this year. So far, 10 hectares had been covered after the summer showers in the block.
Last year, there was a serious shortfall in kuruvai cultivation, when the total area under kuruvai shrunk to just 150 hectares. Adequate quantity of seeds was available with the department, the officials said.
Storage position of most of the major tanks in and around Uppliyapuram is comfortable for raising kurvai.
Influx of water from the tanks to the fields is quite rapid and this has forced farmers to go in for paddy cultivation as no other crop could withstand such condition, sources said.
