With monsoon playing truant, farmers in the district are keeping their fingers crossed fearing that they may not be able to harvest the bumper crop expected for the Onam. Vegetables and bananas are likely to be dearer this Onam.
The low rainfall is not enough for the manure to distribute equally in the ground for vegetables such as pumpkin, snake gourd, cucumber, ash gourd which are much sought after for the season. Bananas will also be hit due to poor rainfall.
“The shortage of rainfall will affect bananas in a big way. Already its prices are sky- rocketing due to drought in Tamil Nadu. The lack of sufficient rainfall is likely to hit the farmers and the Onam market. If we do not tackle the issue this will lead to a crisis,” said environmentalist S Sitaram. The Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Kerala (VFPCK) expressed fear that farmers will be hit due to insufficient rain. “About 10,753 farmers cultivate banana and vegetables and about 5000 to 6000 cultivate banana alone under us. The crops in 450 hectares of land will be hit due to rainfall shortage especially in Thiruvaniyoor, Mazhuvannor, Edakkattuvayal and Piravom Kakkad. The bananas tend to mature faster and have to be harvested earlier with little left for Onam,” said Manjusha, district manager of VFPCK.
Agriculture experts also attest to her views. Intermittent and insufficient rainfall may keep the climes cool and may not affect paddy adversely now but if this trend continues it it will surely hit the second crops to be harvested in November and December,” said Asha Devi Varma, principal Agriculture officer.
She said that so far drought has not been reported. It was already predicted that the state will have 21 per cent rainfall shortage but preparations for natural calamity have not been made. Even flooding can affect crops, she said.
Farmers said that if they do not get sufficient rainfall the next crops will be severely hit.
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