Cyclone Nivar: Agri officials trying to save 9.4K hectares of crop submerged under water in Tamil Nadu

The hefty downpours brought about by Cyclone Nivar have left paddy and few other crop yields submerged in 9,468 hectares (ha) in the delta regions, as per the evaluations of the state agri officials. Authorities took care of business soon after the cyclone made landfall to spare the standing harvests by depleting the water rapidly. Officials said that unlike Cyclone Gaja of 2018 which harmed lakhs of coconut trees, the delta regions to a great extent got away from the rage of Cyclone Nivar. 

"8,470 ha of paddy crops, 428 ha of pulses, 570 ha of oilseed crops and 998 ha of different yields have been immersed with rain water. The agri division has found ways to deplete the water rapidly. We are sure that at this rate 60% of these yields can be spared inside a couple of days," a senior authority in the agri department told. 

Once the water depletes from the farming lands, the crops can be recovered by applying miniature supplements, urea and so forth, However, the same does not apply for pulse crops, as it can't resist two days of immersion of water. Thus, speedy advances are being taken to deplete the water. Officers from the department are in steady touch with farmers in such a manner," the authority said. 

The affected areas include regions from Kanchipuram (750 ha), Thiruvallur (2,225 ha), Cuddalore (1,335 ha), Villupuram (1,205 ha), Tiruvannamalai (958 ha), Chengalpattu (2,760 ha), and Ranipet (235 ha). 

The authority also stated, "For farmers belonging to 22 districts have time up to November 30 to safeguard and insure their yields, while farmers in other 9 different districts have time till December 15 under the Prime Minister’s Crop Insurance Scheme. During the past one week only, crops in more than 12 lakh acres of land have been protected." 

“Till Thursday, 16,39,065 farmers have opted for the scheme and insured 16,69,034 acres of their farming land. Out of the total area, 10,17,974 acres falls under delta regions and 6,51,060 acres falls under non-delta region.”,the official added. 

A detailed advisory has been issued to the farmers on how to save the standing crops. The measures include: 

For young crops (Paddy): 

- Foliar spray mixture of Urea (2 kilo), Zinc Sulphate (1 kilo) and Water (200 L) for 1 acre of land. Spray the same using hand sprayers. 

- Replanting of the seedlings from the corners or tillers where the numbers are more has to be done in case young seedlings in the middle are destroyed. 

For crop during the panicle initiation & flowering stage (Paddy):  

DAP (4 kilo) has to be mixed with water (10 L). Following day, mixture has to be filtered and distilled DAP solution has to be mixed along with Urea (2 kilo) and dilute the entire mixture with water (190 L) and spray using hand sprayers. 

If there should be an occurrence of hindered development in paddy field because of delayed stagnation of rain water, first channel the water, apply fertilizer as top dressing - Mix Urea (22 kilo) with Gypsum (18 kilo) and Neem cake (4 kilo) and store for one night. Following day, blend it in with Potash (17 kilo) and apply to the paddy field in that capacity, as top dressing. 

For plant protection: 

In the overflowed field, there is an opportunity of invasion of pests like stem borer, Green Leaf Hopper and infections like blast, leaf sheath blight. All things considered, get suggestions from Dept authorities and take measures.