The failure of north-east monsoon at the very initial stage, a rare phenomenon in the arid district, has wrecked havoc to the farming community as paddy crop cultivated on about 85,500 hectares was in ‘water-stress condition’ and faced the threat of withering. After a not-so-good harvest last year, farmers took up paddy cultivation on 1.15 lakh hectares of rain-fed areas in the district expecting normal monsoon, but the monsoon let down the farming community and crops on over 80 per cent of the total cultivated area were hit. Agriculture Department had advised the farmers to foliar spray potassium chloride to make the crops drought-resistant but the exercise was unlikely to save the crops, Joint Director of Agriculture R. Harivasan said during a press tour on Wednesday. Even if it rained in December as predicted by meteorological office, the crops would not give the desired yield, he said. Paddy cultivated in Kadaladi, Mudhukulathur and parts of Thirupullani areas faced the threat of withering. The crops cultivated on about 45,000 hectares in Thiruvadanai and RS Mangalam areas, which were 45 to 60 days old, alone could be saved. The December rains would be of great help to the crops in these areas, Mr. Harivasan said. After the delayed start of the monsoon, the district had received only 133.03 mm of rainfall against the average monsoon rainfall of 501 mm, he said. In the absence of farming activities, the off-take of fertilizers from Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Societies (PACCS) and private dealers was very less. To make use of the rain expected in December, the farmers could take up cultivation of millets and pulses, he suggested. Prospects of good harvest of chilly on 20,000 hectares, millets on 5,000 hectares and pulses on 3,000 hectares were good. Chilli had so far been cultivated on 8,000 hectares, he said. Despite the cash crunch, about one lakh farmers had paid premium for crop insurance. The district was one of the 11 districts placed in cluster 1 and the farmers who had lost paddy crops were expected to get 70 per cent compensation in the insurance cover, Mr. Harivasan added. Source - http://www.thehindu.com