This is the time when the Wayanad district usually witnesses brisk agricultural activities such as land preparation for sowing rice and planting of pepper and coffee seedlings, but most farmers here are yet to start the activities owing to erratic rainfall caused by climate change.
According to data available with the Hume Centre for Ecology and Wildlife Biology here, an average monsoon rainfall of 71.4 mm was recorded in the district from June 1 to June 23 against a long period average of 165 mm (in the past 60 years), a deficit of nearly 55%. It was 73.83 mm during the corresponding period last year. It was 375.24 mm in 2021 and 184.36 mm in 2022.
The rainfall pattern in the district also witnessed drastic change. While the Cheeral area on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border got 108.5 mm rainfall during the monsoon, Chettimattom near Pulpally received only 19 mm rainfall.
The erratic rainfall would adversely affect all crops, especially rice, coffee, pepper and ginger, in the district, farming sources said.
Though land preparation has already begun for the Nanja crop in many areas in the district, the sharp decline in rainfall is affecting puddling operations, especially in areas where irrigation facilities are not available, the sources said. The delay in transplanting the crop would lead to a delay in harvest, and it would affect the next Punja crop, they added. Moreover, the abundance of solar radiation may lead to high weed growth. A good monsoon shower is needed for pollination of pepper wines. The continuous decline in rainfall would have resulted in delay in the development of berries and a sharp decline in pepper production in the district, a major pepper growing region in the country .
Since coffee plants are at the berry formation stage, monsoon showers are critical in determining the size of the berry.
Ginger and turmeric plants are at the tillering stage. The dearth of rain will lead to the hardening of surface soil which affects further tillering and rhizome formation. The weather is also favourable for soft rot disease in areca nut, farmers say.
