Dryland farmers seek draught declaration for northern Thoothukudi taluks

Farmers in northern Thoothukudi seek drought declaration due to severe crop yield decline from inadequate rainfall, demanding government relief.

Citing a sharp decline in crop yield due to inadequate monsoon last year, rain-fed agriculture farmers from the northern part of Thoothukudi district submitted petitions at the farmers’ grievance redressal meeting, demanding that rain-fed agriculture regions of Thoothukudi district be declared as drought affected and relief be provided.

The meeting chaired by Collector K. Elambahavath was held at the Collectorate on Thursday.

Hundreds of farmers from Kovilpatti, Vilathikulam and Ettayapuram and Kayathar taluks raised their demands, stating that insufficient rainfall in rain-fed agriculture areas has led to acute water scarcity and affecting the yield of black gram, green gram, maize and other crops cultivated in the region.

The farmers also alleged that officials had reported inflated rainfall data for the district, demanding that rain-fed agriculture lands in these taluks must be declared drought hit and that appropriate relief be granted.

Villikseri K. Premkumar, president of Thennaga Maanavari Vivasayikal Sangam said, “In these areas 60% of the yield has been affected due to inadequate rainfall. Due to this, many farmers in these regions are affected by heavy losses.”

Responding to this Mr. Elambahavath said that rainfall figures were calculated based on data from both automatic and manual rain gauges and there was no discrepancy. He noted that southern parts of the district such as Tiruchendur, Udangudi and Sathankulam had received higher rainfall, while northern regions had received less.