Paddy farmers in Kuttanad bear the brunt of rain

Cultivation in 538.60 ha. has been destroyed, loss estimated at ₹10.19 crore

Thajudeen U.N., a paddy farmer from Champakulam in Kuttanad had suffered huge losses in recent years as a result of crop losses due to heavy downpours and floods.

This year, he has cultivated paddy (additional/second crop season) at the 223-acre Nattayam paddy polder under the Champakulam Krishi Bhavan with an aim to recoup some of the losses of the previous years.

However, heavy rains that lashed the region in recent days and subsequent flooding has now cast a dark cloud over getting a good yield. The almost ready-to-harvest paddy crops at the polder, surrounded by knee-deep water, remain flattened. As the harvest is set to be delayed due to waterlogging, farmers and the padasekhara samithi members are trying hard to avoid a catastrophic loss by placing some 9,000 soil and gravel-filled bags around the polder to prevent bund breach and to check floodwaters from entering the field. Excess water from the field is being pumped out.