Frost damages potato, tea plantations

Coimbatore: While residents and tourists seem to be enjoying the cold, and labourers considering it a temporary issue, farmers in Udhagamandalam are a worried lot. With frost covering their lands and crops for the third consecutive day, and forming thicker sheets as the days go by, the large black spots covering their crop leaves is making them anxious. While carrot and beetroot may have escaped complete damage so far, potato and tea plantations seem to have suffered severe damage.
Thangaraj, a multi-crop farmer in Thalada, who was already worried by the frost since Monday, woke up on Thursday to find many of the tea leaves in his land turned completely back. “In my two acres, I cultivated tea across one acre and in the remaining one acre, I planted potatoes, beetroot and carrot,” he said. “Since the carrot and beetroot crops had crossed 75 days, though the outer leaves have been scorched by the frost, the vegetable is safe. But my potatoes and tea have been completely damaged,” he rued.

The frost, which is formed when small water droplets in the air are exposed to extremely low temperatures and become ice, when it covers any plants or leaves, makes them turn black in colour. “It is almost like the leaves have been burnt by the frost,” agricultural labourer D Ramakrishnan said.

President of the Hill District Small Growers Welfare Association Tumboor I Bhojan confirmed that at least 50,000 acres of cultivated land have been destroyed. “80% of the cultivated land has tea being grown and only the remaining land has vegetables. While tea is most affected, the other vegetables have also been damaged severely,” he said.

Vegetables in Ooty, especially potatoes and carrots, are always preferred and are priced higher in the market for their taste. “Since the hill station’s climate is more suitable for vegetable cultivation, the root vegetables taste better and feel fresher,” said a horticulture department official.

A horticulture department official confirmed that the frost is dangerous to many trees, plants and grass in the botanical garden too. “But the plants recover after a month or so of sunlight, once the winter ends,” an official said.