Chennai : The Tamil Nadu government declared a drought on January 10, after 144 farmers ended their lives between October and December. As many as 106 farmers were reported to have committed suicide in one month, according to a notice issued by the National Human Rights Commission to the state government on January 5.
The retreating northeast monsoon — usually unnoticed in India owing to the singular importance of the larger southwest monsoon — in 2016 was the worst-ever over the last 140 years, according to Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) records, since 1876.
“It is an unprecedented situation,” S. Panneerselvam, Professor and Head, Agro Climate Research Centre, Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, Coimbatore, said. “It has severely affected 21 of 32 districts of Tamil Nadu.”
“Tamil Nadu celebrates Pongal on January the 16th,” said Panneerselvam. “It is when the harvest begins, but the yield this time is going to be the worst the state will see.”
On January 5, reservoirs in Tamil Nadu were at less than 20 per cent of their capacity, cited as the worst-ever for the state.
Overall, the northeast monsoon was 45 per cent short of the average for this period, the state worst hit being Tamil Nadu, where rainfall for the season was 62 per cent short of normal. Although the southwest monsoon — which waters the subcontinent between June and September — was classified as normal across India (three per cent below average), it was 19 per cent deficient in Tamil Nadu.
Hit by shortages from both monsoons, Tamil Nadu, where the winter crop depends more on the northeast monsoon than in any other Indian state, reported a 33 per cent drop in the winter sowing of rice, according to latest crop sowing situation report, updated weekly by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur were the worst hit districts in Tamil Nadu.
“There are 135,000 paddy farmers among the 175,000 lakh farmers in our district, Nagapattinam, which falls in the Cauvery delta. Half the farmers have sown the paddy crop, but less than 20 per cent of the crop has crossed the flowering stage,” said J. Sekar, Joint Director of the Agriculture Department in the eastern coastal district of Nagapattinam. “Even this mature crop will yield nothing.”
The failure of the northeast monsoon was evident across the South except Telangana, where farming is mostly rain-fed and dependent on the southwest monsoon.
Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Kerala now report the highest deficits nationwide.
Karnataka declared a drought in 22 districts and some additional talukas in October 2016; the state has received Rs 1,782 crore from the central government. All of Kerala has been declared drought-hit.
As 2016 ended, South India’s combined reservoir levels were 34 per cent of capacity, which is 22 percentage points less than 56 per cent, the average water availability over the last 10 years. —IANS
