MADURAI: The Tamil Nadu agricultural department has advised farmers to reduce the top weight of coconut palms by cutting off coconuts, tender coconuts and old leaves ahead of storms to avoid uprooting of the trees.
The agriculture department issued an advisory in view of the Indian Meteorological Department’s forecast of very heavy rain in the southern districts from Wednesday to Friday. The IMD has forecast that cyclonic storm Burevi is likely to form over the Bay of Bengal and cross Sri Lanka on December 2 night before emerging over the Gulf of Mannar on December 3 morning. This is likely to bring heavy rain in many parts of south India.
Coconut palms, especially with heavy tops filled with coconuts and unpruned leaves, are among the worst hit during such a weather conditions. Based on the experiences in similar instances, such as cyclone Gaja, additional weight atop is known to result in the trees breaking.
Watering the coconut trees should also be stopped four days ahead for allowing the fibrous roots to strongly hold on to the soil and prevent the trees from getting uprooted.
Similarly, tapioca also could be saved from uprooting by pruning extra leaves. Spread of infection in the pruned portions of the stem can be avoided by spraying copper oxychloride by mixing 300 gram of the chemical with one litre water. Tapioca that is 90% grown should be harvested, and roots of the young plants should be strengthened by heaping soil to their lower stem.
Banana, papaya, mango and jack fruit trees are among those that will bear the brunt of a cyclone, as the fruits add to the weight of the trees, increasing their chances of being uprooted. Fruit bearing and rubber trees should be given support with pine and eucalyptus branches. Fruits close to ripened stage should also be harvested without delay to reduce the tree’s weight, said the advisory. Watering them should be stopped two days ahead of the rainfall forecast.
Proper draining arrangements should be made to prevent stagnation of water in paddy and millet fields. Green house and shadow hut cultivation sheds can be protected by tightly fixing them to the ground with metal rods. Doors and windows should be closed to prevent wind from entering.
The government has also asked primary cooperative societies and regulated markets to have adequate stock of protective materials to safely stock the produce brought by farmers.