Farmers fear crops may wither as frost hits farms, tea estates in Ooty and Kodai

COIMBATORE/MADURAI: Favoured tourist hill stations Ooty and Kodaikanal have been witnessing frosty weather, withtemperaturesdropping to a reported 2° C on the outskirts of Ooty.Even astourists andlocals struggle to adapt to the cold weather, farmers in the towns are a worried lot.



With frost covering lands and crops for the third consecutive day in Ooty, the cover is only getting thicker, say anxious farmers in Udhagamandalam. While carrot and beetroot cultivations have avoided suffering total damage so far, potato and tea plantations have been the worst hit.

Thangaraj, a multi-crop farmer in Thalada, woke up on Thursday to find many of the tea leaveson hislandturncompletely back. “On my two acres, I cultivated tea across one acre and potatoes, beetroot andcarrotin the remaining area,” he said. “Since the carrot and beetroot crops had crossed 75 days, though the outer leaves have been burned by the frost, the vegetable produce is safe. But my potatoes and tea crops have been completely damaged,” he rued.

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 grows tea and only the remaining land has vegetables. While tea is the most affected crop, other crops have also been damaged severely,” he said.

In Kodaikanal, though frost has not had an adverse effect on farming yet, farmers fear that they might see crop lossesif thecondition remains unabated for a few days more. The weather is not favourable for vegetables like potato and carrot,while garlic, green peas are known to withstand such conditions. The punishing climate mostly felt on hill-top regions, including major villages like Kookal, Pambarpuram, Observatory, Kavunjii, Mannavanur and Poondi. “I can see my garlic crops change colour. If it remains the same for a few moredays,thecrop willwither. We are spraying water to keep them warm,” said K Vivek a farmer from Mannavanur.

Kodaikanal suffered worse conditions previously, said scientists from meteorological observatory from Kodaikanal, adding that the chilling weather is expected to go on for a few more days.