Direct sowing method in TN delta districts triggers caste conflict
At the time when the paddy cultivation is in full swing in the 10 Delta districts of Tamil Nadu, following the early release of Cauvery water from the Mettur dam and advanced monsoon rains, the direct sowing method in Myladuthurai district has flared up a caste conflict.
A farmer named Krishnamurthy in Melaparuthikudi village started to cultivate paddy through the direct sowing method on his 15-acre land. Direct sowing is usually carried in the water-scarce region and requires less manual labour. Farmers, who have small pieces of land and are economically weaker, used to resort to this method.
Opposing this way of farming, a section of people belonging to a scheduled community tried to stop the farmer. They claim that the direct sowing method would rob them of their livelihood. Most of the people are working as dailywage agricultural labourers. The Left leaders from the region have also extended their support to the Dalit protests.
The protests led to peace talks before the district collector on June 16. However, none of the parties arrived at a solution. It is against this backdrop that Krishnamurthy got police security and started to work in his field. On June 27, Dalit labourers entered his fields along with CPM cadres holding party flags and allegedly created a ruckus. During the ruckus, it is alleged that one of the police officers, DSP M Vasantharaj, was assaulted by the protestors.
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The police have arrested 39 people in connection with the protests, including CPM district party functionaries P Srinivasan and S Durairaj. They were booked under IPC sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting with deadly weapons), 448 (trespassing), 427 (damage to properties) and 506 (criminal intimidation), The New Indian Express reported.
‘Direct sowing, a necessity for farmers’
In general, paddy is cultivated through two major methods. One, the more popular way of transplanting paddy saplings and two, direct seeding by farmers or using the tractors to directly drill them into the soil.
“The direct sowing method got introduced in the Delta districts around 1987-1988, the year when the Cauvery water was not released from Mettur dam till November; instead of the conventional date of June 12. Water was released only on November 20 and within another 20 days we closed the sluice gates. Big campaigning for direct sowing was done and from 5 lakh acres of land, we produced nearly one-million tonne rice. The event was even termed as ‘one-million tonne rice project’ at that time,” said P Kalaivanan, a former assistant director of state agriculture department, Thanjavur.
Districts like Myladuthurai and Nagapattinam are at the tail-end of Delta districts. If the water is released from the Mettur dam on June 12, the water would reach these districts only around September or October. By that time if farmers started transplanting paddy saplings, they would bear the brunt of north-east monsoon. Because of this, almost every year, most of the farm fields are inundated with floods and affected the yield.
“So, most of the farmers from the tail-end Delta districts took up direct sowing. For direct sowing, Cauvery water is not necessary. Normal monsoon rains would be sufficient. According to the Supreme Court’s ruling, the state is getting a Cauvery water share of 177 tmc. However, in practice, only 167 tmc water is released and the farmers should take up their farming activities with this water between June to January, every year. The remaining 10 tmc water is usually released to sea to maintain the environmental balance. The 167 tmc water usually irrigates around 16 lakh acres,” said Kalaivanan, who is also a member of Tamil Nadu Senior Agro Technologists Forum.
He listed out the advantages of direct sowing. “In the direct sowing method, about 40 per cent of water would be saved when compared to the paddy transplantation method. Besides, in paddy transplantation, about 30 kg of seed would be used, whereas in direct sowing only 10 kg of seed is enough. The number of days of planting the seeds is reduced in direct sowing. It requires less number of labourers. The overall cost of cultivation is also less in direct sowing method”.
In transplantation, people used to put the sapling deeper in the soil. Most of the regions in the tail-end districts have clay soil. Because of this, it takes more time for paddy saplings to develop roots and come out of the soil. About 10 to 15 days are lost during this time. But under the direct sowing method, the paddy grows faster and hence the yield is also higher. Compared to the traditional way or raising nursery and transplantation, which can be cultivated mainly during Kuruvai season, the direct sowing method can be carried during Kuruvai (June), Samba (September first week) and Thaladi (September-end) seasons. While in Samba, the farmers are advised to cultivate long-term varieties of paddy, in Thaladi they can choose medium-term varieties,” Kalaivanan added further.
“With changing climate and lack of labourers, about 50 per cent of farmers across the Delta districts are gradually embracing the direct sowing method,” Kalaivanan told The Federal.
‘An act of vengeance’
It should be noted that the Delta districts are infamous for caste atrocities. It was here, in Keezhvenmani village of Nagapattinam, 44 Dalits were burnt alive in 1968. They were locked inside a hut by upper-caste Hindu landlords and set ablaze for demanding better wages and working conditions.
“It is true that farmers resort to direct sowing method in places where water is scarce and lack of labourers. But in this case, Melaparuthikudi has nearly 120 acres of cultivable land rich in water and labour. The particular farmer has 15 acres of land and has ways and means to employ the labour and do the farming through traditional paddy transplantation. But still he opted for direct sowing method,” said V Amirthalingam, state general secretary, Agri Labourers Union, Nagapattinam.
He said that the farmer continued his farming activities by employing labourers from other parts of the state when the issue was not solved through peace talks and is pending before the district administration.
“CPM cadres did not indulge in any assault. When the DSP entered the farmland without removing his shoes, he slipped and our cadres tried to help him out and that was considered an assault. In February this year, Dalits took out a religious procession in the streets of the caste Hindu streets. The protestors claim that in order to take revenge for the procession, caste Hindu farmers resorted to direct sowing, thereby depriving them of their livelihoods,” Amirthalingam said.
Cauvery Dhanapal, president, Delta Farmers Protection Association, told The Federal that in the past too such clashes had happened.
‘Difficult to get labourers’
“Currently, the per-day wage for a person under MNREGA scheme is Rs 250. But many of the farmers are ready to pay even Rs 600 per day. However, they found it difficult to get labourers. That is why most of us are opting for direct sowing method. Earlier, agricultural labourers protested in this region when farmers used tractors and other mechanisation in farming activities,” he said.
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G Sethuraman, president, of Tamil Nadu Farmers Welfare Association which supports farmers like Krishnamurthy, said that the problem is basically of farmers and farm labourers but some miscreants have converted the issue into a caste conflict.
“The issue related to religious procession is in the court now. But using that issue in an agricultural problem is wrong. We have farmers from all the communities as members. When our chief minister himself is taking efforts to minimise water utilisation for paddy cultivation and is advising the farmers to use tools like drones, people opposing the direct sowing method is a meaningless activity,” he said.
