Weak Monsoon and Cauvery Dispute Leave Tamil Nadu Delta Farmers in Crisis
Farmers in Tamil Nadu's Cauvery delta region are facing a severe crisis due to a weak southwest monsoon and an unresolved water-sharing dispute with Karnataka. The Stanley Reservoir at Mettur, which typically releases water for irrigation on June 12, has insufficient storage, preventing the start of the kuruvai (kharif) paddy season for most farmers.
According to official data, Tamil Nadu received only 2.915 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft) of Cauvery water from Karnataka in June, far below the 9.19 tmc ft mandated by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and the Supreme Court. This shortfall has left vast tracts of farmland dry.
In 2025, kuruvai paddy was cultivated on over six lakh acres—exceeding the normal area of 4.4 lakh acres. This year, the government's special package projected cultivation on 3.55 lakh acres using groundwater, but farmers estimate actual coverage will be only about 1.5 lakh acres in filter point areas of core delta districts like Thanjavur and Tiruvarur.
District officials report that Thanjavur's kuruvai area has fallen from 1,94,000 acres last year to around 89,000 acres this season. In Tiruvarur, coverage has dropped from 1,91,000 acres to about 64,000 acres.
Farmers who have managed to plant using groundwater face erratic three-phase power supply and declining water tables. R. Arivazhagan, a farmer from Olaidevarayanpettai in Thanjavur, told this publication that despite raising paddy on six acres, his borewell yield is decreasing, and power disruptions threaten his crop. Many neighbours have been unable to plant at all due to dry rivers and depleted groundwater.
Others, like R. Pandidurai from Seelathanallur in Tiruvarur, invested in summer ploughing expecting water release in mid-June. With no water, their fields lie fallow and farm labourers are jobless. The entire rural economy has suffered.
Farmers are urging the state government to declare the delta districts drought-hit, enabling them to claim compensation under the Prime Minister's Crop Insurance Scheme's 'prevented sowing/planting risk' clause. Karunainathan of Vedaranyam noted that Nagapattinam district has few borewells, making the situation especially dire.
Mahadhanapuram Rajaram, president of the Cauvery Irrigation Farmers Welfare Association, estimated that delta farmers could lose about ₹1,125 crore due to the inability to raise the kuruvai crop. The looming El Niño effect adds further uncertainty for the upcoming samba season.
