Madurai: Plight of betel leaf farmers Sholavandan unhappy as fields hit by gales

Even a decade ago, betel leaves grown from Sholavandan in Madurai district were exported to USA and UK and other countries among others. But today, the situation of farmers has been miserable as most of them are facing “red” and they have not been able to stop the increasing losses due to many factors.

Very recently, on a sunny day, farmers in Mannadimangalam who were growing betel leaves were in for a shock. A strong wind accompanied by about an hour of seasonal rainfall completely turned their fortunes around. The entire ‘kodikaal’ was uprooted in the wind and the fields were flooded with knee-deep water. The ferocious nature punished them so much that the financial loss was unbearable.

Almost two months have passed since the storm and farmers are still waiting with the hope that the government will consider providing some tangible relief, said farmer Maranattan, adding that officials have indeed visited the storm-hit fields but have not yet received a favorable response.

Cultivation of betel leaves is quite different from cultivation of other traditional crops like paddy or coconut, the farmers said, and the cost of cultivation alone would be huge when they come together in small groups to cultivate betel leaves. The work will be almost every day and it takes almost eight months for the first harvest and the second harvest can be done at the end of the 15th month and so on.

If grown properly, betel leaves would fetch a whopping ₹15,000 per acre for which farmers have to work collectively for 24 to 30 months to earn through two to three harvests, he said.

In Mannadimangalam alone, nearly 75 acres of betel leaves that were grown and ready for harvesting were washed away. “All the money invested and hard work in it is lost… he said with pain and hoped that the government would help them in this hour of crisis.

If the woes of betel leaf farmers were bad, the problems faced by coconut and rice farmers seemed worse. Sholavandan, which was once known as the ‘delta region’ because most of them cultivated a double crop, looks desolate and disoriented. Production and productivity would normally be high. The yield of each product from the block was also very high, said Mettumadai’s Rajendran.

But now things have taken a turn for the worse.

With the weather uncooperative and workers in short supply, costs doubled. To grow any crop like betel leaves, coconut or paddy, the cost of production has gone up, making yields not only meager but also uncertain with unpredictable rains.

Although officials took land for testing and inspected the fields, they said the government would not help because the storm was a natural disaster and the rains were not seasonal. It was no mistake on their part and that it was a natural calamity, said Paramasivam in Jayamangalam.

Sholavandan farmer N Ramasamy, who retired from the agriculture department, said he has been cultivating in his family in Alankottaram for many decades. The hailstones hit the rice crop, which none of the farmers in the neighboring villages could escape from losing.

Plantain crops ready for harvest that were uprooted in the hailstorm that hit Sholavandan in Madurai district recently. | Photo credit: R. Ashok

Apart from rice, at least 4,000 ready-to-harvest plantain crops were also uprooted in the hail and many coconut trees were damaged. In many cases, the destruction was so severe that they had to start over, he added.

Recalling the harrowing experience, he said that the rain stopped only after three days. Incessant and extensive rain accompanied by a gale sealed the fate of the farmers in this block. The speed was so high that many coconut trees were also damaged. It was simply unpredictable and unstoppable, he stressed.

Loss of rice to DPC

Farmers said that the direct purchase or procurement centers (DPCs) that bought paddy fish from them were also loss making. After procurement, the produce, which was left in the open at the DPC, got soaked in the unseasonal rain.

Officials said they were operating with minimal manpower in the midst of a general election. Since senior officers were bound by electoral duty and a model code of conduct applied, the available staff were not able to take any decisions in such a crisis.

As a result, the paddy bags, which could not be transported to nearby conventions due to lack of space, were lost, officials admitted, adding that the payment could not therefore be released to the farmers.

Now the farmers who faced hardships have neither received returns for the produce sold to the government nor would they because the goods were destroyed in the rains. Caught in the quagmire, many small and marginal farmers are under a lot of stress.

Former Additional Director (Agriculture) S Kanagaraj said the government should focus on improving infrastructure facilities. For example, storage facilities should be built closer to the DPC. Wherever the density of rice cultivation was high, TNCSC (Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation) can explore ways to have facilities on site with proper roofing, which would save time and money on transportation.

A senior official of the Agriculture Department in Chennai told The Hindu that they have released Rs 290 crore in December 2025 as compensation to farmers who lost their crops due to the gale, unseasonal rain from the State Disaster Response Fund. Likewise, in the ensuing rains, the then CM MK Stalin ordered a relief of Rs 20,000 per acre to farmers whose crops were submerged in the unforeseen rainfall.

Although he was unable to confirm the relief for farmers in Madurai district now, the official said the new government has just taken office. The ryots are likely to have to wait for a few more months as the ministry will have to take the proposal to Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, who may have to hold talks with the finance ministry before taking the final call.

The wait will be long again this time and farmers may have to keep their fingers crossed until then.

Published – 17 May 2026 13:16 IST