November Rains - Unusual or Unseasonal ?
by Florine Roche
Pics by Dayananda Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
Mangalore, Nov 23: The southern parts of India have been experiencing heavy rains in the past two months under the influence of a trough of low pressure in Bay of Bengal and vigorous north east monsoon. Cyclone ‘Jal’ which hit the country in October-November has left a massive trail of destruction in coastal Karnataka and Andrapradesh. The heavy rains which lashed over many districts of coastal districts of Karnataka and other interior parts due to the effect of Jal Cyclone has resulted in loss of lives, damage to houses, roads and caused extensive damage to standing crops. At 15 districts of the state including Chikmgalur, Chikballapur, Chitradurga, Dharwad, Gadag, Davanagere, Mysore, Tumkur, North and South Kanara and many other districts the farmers are having a tough time to come to terms with the destruction caused by unusual rains.
Farmers had expected a fairly good crop and it was expected that the prices of food grains, which have reached sky high leading to spiraling inflation, would drop considerably after the Kharif harvest.
However, ‘Jal’ cyclone has brought nothing but destruction, distress and despair to the farmers who are unable to come to terms with the havoc caused by unexpected rains. Crops like paddy, maize, cotton, sugarcane, onions and many other crops were destroyed. Normal life has been thrown out of gear in many parts of the state as electricity, communication, transport were affected due to the incessant rains. Bangalore city had a record rainfall of 62 cm rain last week, said to be the heaviest the city has experienced in a single day in November, in the last two decades.
Though it has rained in November earlier also, it never rained for so such a long duration or caused such havoc. While the people in general believe that these rains are unexpected or unseasonal which led to such devastation, the meteorological department of the state believes that these rains cannot be termed as unseasonal. “North East monsoon usually brings rain to Tamil Nadu and eastern and southern districts of Karnataka. But the North East monsoon has been a trifle late this year and the cyclonic effect resulting from depression in the Bay of Bengal has caused massive rains in the state. The rains are expected to recede within a week”, says duty officer of the Meteorological department of Bangalore.
The farmers are bearing the brunt of this unexpected rains as they have suffered huge damages to the crop which was ready for harvest. Large tracks of agricultural lands and paddy fields were inundated resulting in thousands of hectares of horticultural crops not being harvested. The havoc caused by rain has been greater in Karnataka, Andhra and the Maharashtra border areas and the worst hit is the onion crop in Northern Karnataka and Maharashtra. As the rain has wrought havoc to onion crop the prices of onions has reached Rs. 50 a kilo and worst still the quality of the onion is not guaranteed. While the onion may look good from outside many a time the product is rotten from inside. It may be recalled that just a few years ago onion prices had brought tears in the eyes of consumers and there are all indications that a similar situation may crop up any time. According to Bangalore onion merchants, the supply of onion has come down from about 400 truckloads per day to 120 loads per day and the price of one quintal has risen from Rs. 700 to Rs. 800/- to the present 1500 to 3000, a marginal increase in just two weeks time. Along with onion the price of garlic has also sky rocketed causing a deep dent in the pockets of consumers and these would lead to inflationary trends.
It is really a pity to see the fate of farmers in the state whose paddy is ready for harvest in October-November. The losses to paddy crops have been enormous. The flattening of the paddy in water logged fields has led to the sprouting of the paddy in the fields. So is the case of areca nut growers who find it difficult to dry them due to lack of sun or find it difficult to gather and store it without getting soaked in the rain when it pours suddenly and unexpectedly. As a result, the gathered areca nut has start decaying, which finally affects the quality of the final product as the rate of dry nut in the market is fixed depending on the quality of the nut.
The rain has also caused loss to vegetable crops including beans, tomato, chilly, potato and coffee. The prices of vegetables, flowers and other consumer items like garlic, coriander leaves, fresh green vegetables have already reached sky high and the real impact of the trail of destruction will be felt in the next one or two months. Root crops like ginger, carrot, potato etc., are rotten due to excessive rains.
The unseasonal rains have hit coffee growing belts of Karnataka such as Chikmagalur, Hassan and Kodagu, greatly affecting coffee output. Karnataka is the largest coffee producing state in the country and the unexpected rain and resulting older nights has led to dropping of the raw and red berries, thus affecting coffee production.
Untimely rains not only affect standing crops but also causes damage to the already arrived crops in homes and various grain markets due to increased moisture content in the crop as it is not possible to dry the grains due to cloudy sky.
It is unfortunate that months of hard labour of the farmers has come to a naught and one can just imagine the frustration of the hapless farmers who curse their own fate for the havoc caused by rain. When the people who pay money and buy these farm produce feel the pinch and cry hoarse, one cannot even try to measure the despair, dejection, frustration, helplessness and gloom permeating these farmers who toil relentlessly and ultimately witness the crop getting devastated just at a time when it is ready for harvest.
Whatever damage caused so far is irreversible and one has to be ready to face the after effects of it any time. One only hopes situation would come back to normalcy soon.