August 22, 2025

The farmers of Tirunelveli have a big reason to smile this year! The cultivation land in the district has grown by a whopping 8,373 hectares. How? The magic lies in the timely release of water from the Papanasam and Manimuthar dams, plus some helpful rain showers during the southwest monsoon. At a lively farmers’ grievance meeting at the Collectorate on Friday, District Collector R. Sukumar shared the good news. He said the district got 40.53 mm rainfall in July 2025 – this is 26.40 mm more than the usual average! Although August had less rain (only 10.40 mm against the average 23.30 mm), the water stored in the dams was still enough to keep the crops happy. "The satisfactory storage level in major dams like Manimuthar and Papanasam reservoirs and timely release of water from these dams ensured increase in the area of cultivation during this year," said Dr. Sukumar. This year, paddy and other crops were raised on 23,176 hectares using the dam water, increasing cultivation by 8,373 hectares from January to August. The administration also opened eight paddy direct procurement centres (DPCs), where 596 farmers sold a total of 2,055.28 tonnes of paddy. Big steps are also happening digitally. Farmer land documents are being digitised, and unique identification numbers are being issued. "So far, 27,638 details required under Prime Minister’s Kisan Scheme and 12,981 other documents had been uploaded till August 20," Dr. Sukumar said. He urged farmers to upload their details at nearby e-Seva centres or the Office of the Assistant Director of Agriculture to get government assistance. Good news for irrigation too! A total of 53.45 km of irrigation channels and 30.21 km of distribution channels under the Tamirabharani Basin, plus 21.80 km of Radhapuram channel’s distribution channels under the Gothaiyar Basin, have been desilted. Permission to take silt from 755 ponds helped 655 potters benefit from the extracted material. Loans are flowing for farmers as well. Dr. Sukumar revealed that ₹4,303.72 crore was given through Kisan Credit Cards, and 2,240 dairy farmers received ₹11.32 crore in loans. All in all, the combination of dam water, rain, good planning, and loans is creating a bloom of hope for Tirunelveli farmers this year!

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Tags: Tirunelveli, Farmers, Water release, Papanasam dam, Manimuthar dam, Paddy cultivation,