CHENNAI: Unseasonal and heavy rainfall over the past few days has severely damaged short-term paddy crop in Tamil Nadu's Thanjavur district, leaving vast stretches of fields inundated just as they were ready for harvest.
The downpour has hit one of Tamil Nadu’s major rice-producing regions at a critical juncture, putting hundreds of farmers on edge about potential crop losses.
According to the Agriculture Department, paddy was cultivated across 1.99 lakh acres during the Kuruvai season this year, of which 1.65 lakh acres have already been harvested. However, standing crop in areas such as Orathanadu, Thanjavur, and Ammapettai remain exposed to waterlogging, with an estimated 1, 500 acres of short-term paddy now submerged.