From the Rice Bowl of South India

When I shared this picture with a few friends, two responded 'picturesque' and another replied that it must be calming to work in a rice field than to eat rice and work sitting in one place all day. What is the reality behind the picturesque fields and is it really much easier working in the rice fields? Let's find out without getting you sweaty and dirty.

Sadly, many of us have no knowledge of how food grains are produced and our knowledge of farms are restricted to what newspapers report. Farmer suicides and river wars between two states are the only two favorite topics. 

Since we have lived all our life in cities and we shop in supermarkets which stocks produce in climate controlled rooms. As a result, there is no opportunity for us to understand the hard work that goes into the fields, practical difficulties of managing farms lands, migration and labor issues, constant battle with the unapathetic Government and its policies and most importantly, unpredictable climate. 

I reached my village three weeks late, just like the rains in September. By then my dad had ploughed 200+ acres for cultivating Paddy aka Rice. Thanjavur district is often referred to as the rice bowl of south India and there are some farmers who still cultivate three crops a year. 

Since rains played a truant this September and release of water in Mettur Dam delayed for cultivation, my father and many other farmers by-passed the transplantation process and directly sowed the seeds after preparing the soil. Some used ground water and bore wells to irrigate and prepare the fields, while others were dependent on release of Cauvery water from Mettur Dam. 

Here is a beautiful picture depicting the birth of Cauvery river that I found in my house. Lord Ganesha turned into a crow to release Cauvery from Sage Agastya's Kamandalu. Had the sage known the issue between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, he would have found an alternate solution. 

Usually the sowing season begins in mid to end July and harvest falls around mid-January coinciding with Farmers Festival aka Pongal. The water level in Mettur Dam is a marker for bountiful harvest. Though the newspaper reported Mettur Dam at 68 feet, it also brought in some good news for the day. Heavy rains in catchment areas had forced Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu and the inflow of water into Mettur was heartening. 

On the way to the farmlands, I pointed out at Koraiyar and Harischandra Nadhi flowing bank to bank to my father, who explained to me how the river beds weren't dredged and cleaned in a long time, resulting in a clogged and shallow river bed. Was it the fault of the Government or were the collectors siphoning the money elsewhere while accounting for dredging expenses? I leave that to your investigation.

Despite late arrival of rains and politics behind Mettur Dam water release, my father and many other farmers took a risk in sowing paddy using bore wells. How do the fields appear now? Get ready for a weekend read on the risks of late sowing and the delayed arrival of monsoon?