The Hindu Business Line : Untimely rains, duck disease hit Kuttanadu farmers hard

Kochi April 25 Recent summer rains accompanied by strong winds, and outbreak of duck disease in the upper Kuttanadu region in Pathanamthitta district have caused heavy losses to farmers in the region.

Though upper Kuttanadu has around 10,000 acres of padasekharam (paddy fields) only around 3,500 acres are used for cultivation and that too for a single crop during December - March, every year, the President, Upper Kuttanadu Nel-Karshaka Samithy (UKNKS), Mr Sam Eapen, told Business Line. About 6,500 acres are left fallow for various reasons such as non-availability of water and labourers, he said.

`HEAVY LOSS'

Summer showers in the middle of harvesting have spoiled paddy crop in an estimated 300 acres. Paddy worth around Rs 25 lakh was lost, he said. The worst affected areas are in Mepral, Nedumpram, Peringara and Chathekery.

Opening the shutters of Thanneermukham Bund at a time when harvesting was under way in this region has also aggravated the situation following inflow of water into the fields.

In fact, the upper Kuttanadu region spread over five panchayats is blessed with rivers and navigable canals, which were once the only mode of transport. But, following the construction of criss-cross roads the canals lost their importance and as a result remained neglected by the authorities. Drop in the riverbed level following sand mining has stopped the flow from the rivers Manimala and Pampa in to the canals. On the other hand, blockages in the water bodies led to accumulation of silt and consequently the depth of the canals has reduced.

Shortage of labour

Shortage of labour has also become a major problem in this paddy-growing region. Normally, harvesting of paddy is done by women workers. Today, as against the demand of 50 hardly five workers are available, as many of them are getting more lucrative and comfortable domestic jobs in the nearby towns. While the male workers also prefer jobs at construction sites which are abundantly available of late in the urban areas. A helper engaged in building construction gets around Rs 250 a day where as for working in the muddy paddy fields would fetch them only around Rs 200.

Duck farming

Given this situation the farmers have taken up duck farming to supplement their income. "It is profitable provided there is no diseases," said Mr Soman, a small farmer of Alamthuruthy. But, in recent days many farmers have lost their ducks due to diseases.

Over 2,000 birds had died of "Duck pasteurellosis", Dr A.K. Unnikrishan, Assistant Director, Avian Disease Diagnostic laboratory at Thiruvalla, said. In order to arrest its spread vaccination of the ducks in the region has been started from Wednesday, he added.

As the Upper Kuttanadu is part of the Kuttanadu region (the granary of Kerala), Mr Sam Eapen said that the UKNKS has already submitted a memorandum to Dr M.S. Swaminathan, Chairman of the Kuttanadu Study Commission, for including this region also in the Special Agricultural Package for Kuttandu covering the areas falling in Alappuzha district. He said that the prevailing situation in Upper Kuttanadu was not different from that in the (lower) Kuttandu region.

More Stories on : Climate & Weather | Rice | Poultry | Kerala

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Corporatisation of agriculture output, marketing emphasised

`No dues' certificate: Farmers get relief

Untimely rains, duck disease hit Kuttanadu farmers hard

Pulses imports need no subsidy

Girijan Co-operative Corpn plans cold storage units

Glut situation

Bearish global prices peg sheet rubber lower

Platinum, palladium may scale new highs in 2007

Metal SMEs allowed to hedge risk in global exchanges

2006 declared `boom year' for coffee, rubber

ITC-ILTD eyes N-E region for growing spices

Bears pull down pepper futures

Chinese data props up zinc, copper prices

Sugar exports: Industry faces double whammy