Ooty farmers say carrot crop damaged by rain, officials say guidelines ignored

FARMERS in and around Avalanche in the Nilgiris district are in despair as their fields have been submerged following the heavy rain here for over a month.

- S SENTHIL KUMAR

The farmers whom the TNIE spoke to pointed out that they had experienced such rain in the southwest monsoon after a gap of five years and also had not experienced such heavy wind as seen last week.

"I sowed carrot seeds a month ago and the seedlings had started to sprout. However, the rain inundated my two acres of field and due to incessant rain for close to a month, my carrot field has become slushy. I can't walk in the field as my legs sink into the soil. We expected a harvest in October. I lost more than 2 lakh after sowing seeds, paying workers etc," said C Narayanan of Gandhi Kandi Village in Avalanche.