Yellow Leaf Disease Affects Tamil Nadu’s Sugarcane Production Before Pongal

One of the most important festivals observed in Tamil Nadu is Pongal. The harvest celebration, as it is called, is said to bestow wealth and good fortune onto farmers. It honors the Sun God and is observed in the month of January. Together with their families and other local residents, all of the farmers enjoy this celebration. The festival often lasts three or four days, with various events scheduled for each day. Every state celebrates the harvest festival in a distinctive way. Pongal will take place this year from January 15 to January 18. The planning process is well underway. Sugarcane is also said to be significant for the Pongal festival. It has now been discovered that sugarcane has been scarce in a few sections of the state.

Pongal is coming up, therefore sugarcane harvesting will be over in a few days. In this case, over 30 villages, including Ayyampettai, Veeramangudi, Ganapati Agraharam, and Thanjavur district, are engaged in the small-scale manufacture of Achu Vellam, a kind of sweet made from sugarcane and necessary for Pongal. The outbreak of yellow sugarcane disease has resulted in a recent decline in the number of sugarcane farmers. As a result, there is a labor scarcity and ongoing price reductions. There were almost a hundred factories shut down. In addition to being used for Pongal, sugarcane is also utilized for clothing printing.

“We have been doing the business of making print jaggery for generations,” said Arvind, a farmer in the Ganapathi Agraharam district. We own around twenty acres of agricultural property. We only plant sugarcane each year, but it isn’t growing right now as yellow illnesses are attacking it. We have no choice except to produce paddy this year instead of sugarcane. It has had a significant impact on our employees. Just a few firms are now producing printed jaggery at a rapid pace as the Pongal holiday draws near.

In addition, he has urged the government to intervene against the yellow sugarcane disease and provide the farmers substitute incentives.