LBP farmers want release of water to save crops The Tamizhaga vivasayigal Sangam has urged the State government to fulfil the Erode district administration’s demand to release six tmcft water for two wettings in the Lower Bhavani Project ayacut second-turn irrigation area that has been affected by drought. In a resolution adopted at the Sangam's district unit meeting, chaired by its secretary T. Subbu Muthusamy, the meeting called for declaration of a major part of Tamil Nadu as drought-affected and distribution of relief to farmers and agricultural workers after proper assessment of the impact. The association wanted Agriculture Department officials to determine prospective productivity in fields for the purposes of insurance and evaluation of drought relief in the presence of farmers. Speakers at the meeting said the loans granted to farmers through nationalised banks and cooperative banks must be written off since cultivators had been hit hard by the continuous dry conditions and unremunerative procurement prices. Officials in the habit of preparing data "arbitrarily" must be punished, they said. The association called upon the State government to identify all waterbodies so that encroachments can be removed and desilting done. Feasibility of linking rivers and constructing check-dams should be explored to expand cultivable area and recharge ground water. Steps should be initiated to deepen waterbodies and other water sources under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme ‘Namakku Naame’ schemes. Farmers must be permitted to utilise the dug-out soil and organic material for enhancing fertility of fields, the Sangam said. Plea to write off loans granted to farmers through nationalised and cooperative banks Steps should be initiated to deepen waterbodies under MGNREGS Agricultural graduate student conference Tamil Nadu Agricultural University will conduct the second Agricultural Graduate Student Conference on ‘Sustainable Agriculture to FUEL (feed, unite, educate and lead) the future’ on May 6 and 7. A release said that all post graduate and research scholars in agriculture and related sciences were eligible to attend the conference. Farmers switch to Alphonso for good returns The Alphonso mango production in Mysore districthas seen a constant rise, with farmers switching over to this variety for good returns. Unlike districts such as Belgaum and Dharwad, where Alphonso mangoes are grown in abundance, the city recently started to produce the Alphonso variety, which is known for its distinctive flavour. The area under Alphonso cultivation has increased in the district in the last few years, according to authorities of the Horticulture Department. Deputy Director of Horticulture H.M. Nagaraj told The Hindu that nearly 40 per cent of the mangoes produced in the district were of the Alphonso variety. Besides being one of the most preferred varieties, it is bought in bulk by food processing industries for its pulp, Mr. Nagaraj explained. Of the 3,500 hectares of land under mango cultivation in the district, Alphonso is cultivated in nearly 5,000 acres. It is primarily grown in Mysore, Hunsur and Nanjangud taluks. Bilikere, about 25 km from the city, is the largest producer of Alphonso mangoes in the district, Mr. Nagaraj said. Under the National Horticulture Mission (NHM), farmers get a subsidy of Rs. 16,500 an acre for mango cultivation. Reliable The horticulture farm at Yelchanahalli near Mysore, where various kinds of mango varieties are cultivated for demonstration purpose, produces nearly 40,000 mango saplings a year for distribution among interested farmers. “Farmers can buy saplings either from our farm or from nurseries run by private agencies. But, according to a government directive farmers must buy sapling only from approved nurseries to avail themselves of subsidy from the government,” he said. On the recent trend of farmers switching to Alphonso variety, Mr. Nagaraj said replacing old varieties with new ones was a painstaking procedure. However, he said the vagaries of weather have hit mango production and the output was lower this year. Lack of rain Krishnappa (68), a mango grower from D.M.G. Halli, said the mango trees in his two- acre plantation were withering due to lack of rainfall in the last two years. Until 2011, his orchards produced about six tonnes of mango a season. The 35-year-old mango trees produced two tonnes. Mr. Krishnappa and several other farmers in the village market their produce in ‘mandis’ or to HOPCOMS. Mango production has taken a beating owing to successive drought. The fruit size has reduced and the yield is low this year, he said. Export quality Farmers like Krishnappa stress the need for growers to form an association that protects their interests besides working towards producing export-quality mangoes to get higher returns. “Growers must strictly adhere to certain conditions if they want their produce to be of export quality. They must be given guidance and assistance from the department concerned,” he said, adding that steps would be taken to form such an association soon. 1,500 kg of PDS rice recovered A team of civil supplies department personnel recovered 1,500 kg of PDS rice in a series of raids here on Saturday. Based on tip-offs that rice meant for distribution through fair price shops was being sold by middlemen, a team led by block supplies officer intercepted a Velankanni-bound bus and seized 15 bags of 30 kg rice each. The sacks were found unclaimed in the bus. On enquiries, it was suspected that the destination was Paravai near Velankanni. As a follow-up, a surprise raid was held in Paravai, where about 1,000 kilograms of PDS rice was seized. Rampant clay mining destroys paddy fields Rampant clay mining has led to the destruction of paddy fields and acute shortage of water at Nenmanikkara panchayat, near here. The local farmers point out that the panchayat used to have more than 600 hectares of paddy field. According to the development report of the panchayat, 97.6 per cent of paddy fields have been destroyed. The clay mining has turned 500 hectares of paddy fields into just fallow lands. According to local residents, Nenmanikkara was once known for the production of quality rice. It used to produce more rice than the State average. The rampant clay mining has caused serious environmental problems in the area, including water shortage, the residents complain. They allege that the panchayat watershed management committee and geology department have been colluding with the mining lobby. The land has lost the layer of the sand and clay that retains the surface water. Most of the wells in the Nenmanikkara panchayathave been dried up. Many ponds and wells are polluted. Water quality in the area has also been affected. Though the rules don’t allow mining during nights, they are being blatantly violated here. The panchayat witnesses 24-hour mining, say the farmers. The miners fill the pits with quarry waste. As a result no further cultivation is possible in the field. Many people in the area are not ready to lease out their paddy fields for cultivation, say farmers. They urged the authorities to take urgent steps to protect the remaining paddy fields. Tile factories in Nenmanikara and neighbouring panchayats used to provide employment for many local residents till recently. However, more than 80 per cent of the employees in the sector are now migrant labourers from north Indian States. A paddy bowl sans potable water Potable water is a scarce commodity in the paddy bowl of Kuttanad, making life miserable to the nearly 3.5-lakh population in this low-lying area. Though surrounded by water round the year, the households in Kuttanad lying two to eight feet below sea level are at the mercy of water vendors to quench their thirst. They buy water at the rate of Rs.500 to Rs.650 for every 1,000 litre. ‘‘We cannot afford this hefty sum and we used to buy a pot of water supplied in country boats at our door step for Rs.10 on alternative days,’’ said Ammini, a farm worker at Thottukadavu. ‘‘Successive governments have failed to implement a proper mechanism for drinking water supply in this region for want of commitment, planning, and scientific management of funds and resources all these years, leaving the innocent people at the receiving end,’’ said Gopakumar Kavalam, writer. The worst-affected areas are Kavalam, Kainakary, Neelamperoor, Kannady, Kunnumma, Thotukadavu, Thakazhy, and R-Block to mention a few. Kavalam panchayat housed not even a single water storage tank till date, except for the basement constructed by the panchayat, amply exposing the criminal negligence in this regard on the part of the authorities concerned, Mr. Gopakumar said. The umpteen number of ponds and wells to which the local population depended on for their daily domestic chores have been polluted due to lack of maintenance and pollution. The people’s hope and trust in the Kerala Water Authority, when it started laying pipelines and installing taps in different places, too proved to be a short-lived one with the pipeline network remaining dry in many places. Dineshkumar Pullangady, a peasant who represents the dominant paddy farming community in Kuttand, told The Hindu that this once paddy-rich place started losing its native charm with the unscientific development spree started a decade ago. Criss-crossing of unscientifically constructed roads across the canals and other construction works have blocked a large number of natural flood escape routes, leaving the canal waters stagnant and polluted. Callous dumping of waste into it has further worsened the situation, making the canal water not even good for a hand wash. Though the Revenue Department has spent Rs.1 crore for supplying potable water in tanks to the scarcity-hit areas of Kuttanad this year, there were allegations that the supply failed to reach the gravely affected interior reaches for reasons best known to the authorities concerned.