“We have always had an issue with water,” mumbles K.V. Girish, as he looks up at the cloudy sky over the sprawling paddy field in front of his house. “We have faced either a drought-like situation or flood ever since the drought of 2016. It’s been more severe this time around owing to the erratic southwest monsoon,” says Girish, a paddy farmer from Karalam village in Thrissur district, Kerala.
September is generally pleasant after a copious southwest monsoon. But Girish’s paddy field, part of the kole wetland ecosystem, looks parched at places when it should’ve remained under a thick blanket of water, post-harvesting. The field is weary and weed-infested.
“We received some rain towards the end of August and intermittently so far in September. However, it is insufficient as the first three months of the monsoon season saw grossly inadequate rainfall. The unseasonal showers now are adding to the farmers’ confusion,” he says, as he drives his herd of cattle to the semi-parched field.
