Continuous heavy rainfall across Tamil Nadu’s Cauvery Delta districts has submerged more than one lakh acres of young samba paddy fields, dealing a severe blow to farmers already facing delays in harvesting and procurement due to high moisture content in paddy stocks.
According to agriculture department officials, kuruvai paddy was cultivated on nearly six lakh acres across the key delta districts — Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, and Mayiladuthurai — this season. While about 70 percent of the kuruvai harvest has been completed, the remaining fields, which were ready for harvest, are now inundated by relentless rains that have lashed the region over the past few days.
In Thanjavur district, paddy fields ready for harvest in areas such as Orathanadu, Thiruvaiyaru, Ammapettai, Papanasam, Kumbakonam, and Thiruvidaimarudur have been submerged. Similarly, in Tiruvarur district, around 20,000 acres of samba and short-term paddy cultivated in Mannargudi, Koradachery, Tiruvarur, and Muthupettai remain underwater.
In Mayiladuthurai district, nearly 10,000 acres of paddy in Mayiladuthurai, Kollidam, and Kutthalam regions have been affected. The situation is equally grim in Nagapattinam district, where vast stretches of land in Kilvelur, Thalainayar, and Vedaranyam are waterlogged, leaving farmers unable to drain their fields.
Officials said that due to persistent downpours, rainwater has not been able to drain through irrigation canals and field channels, resulting in prolonged stagnation. Farmers fear that paddy grains in mature fields will sprout prematurely, while young samba crops could rot due to excessive moisture, leading to heavy losses.
P. Jagatheesan, Delta District Coordinator of the Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Association, said, “Of the six lakh acres cultivated, about 4.2 lakh acres have been harvested. However, due to the rains, the remaining fields are submerged, and the harvested paddy cannot be sold because of high moisture content. Farmers are deeply distressed.”
Meanwhile, district administrations have begun assessing crop damage and are preparing to deploy pumps to clear stagnant water. The Regional Meteorological Centre has forecast continued light to moderate rainfall in the delta region for the next 48 hours, prolonging farmers’ anxiety as they await clearer skies to save what remains of their standing crops.
