With the entire State being announced as drought-hit by the Government, the cattle in the Kongu region are now facing a new threat – their fodder too has been hit by the dry monsoons as more than 90 per cent of the crops did not even grow properly.

According to S. Palanisamy, District President of Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Association, Coimbatore has more than one lakh cattle with the largest population being in rural areas.

“Lack of fodder was a huge problem in urban areas where the cattle have started feeding on wall posters. But the issue is worse in rural areas as the farmers are not able to get any type of fodder,” he said.

According to sources, in Coimbatore alone, rain-fed crops are cultivated in around 39,000 hectares, out of which 95 per cent has yielded nothing because of the drought.

“Once the harvest is over, we give the plants as fodder to the cattle. The fodder is then sold to farmers for cattle grazing,” said Palanisamy.

“Most of the farmers would graze the cattle in open grounds where they would feed on grass and small plants. But this has become hard for farmers as there is no grass available in most areas,” said another farmer.

M. Kumar, a cattle farmer near Perur, said that the farmers would buy cattle fodder for up to Rs. 1000 per day. “For cattle that are pregnant, select green fodder should be given so that they yield healthy calf. Milking cows would also be given green fodder. This year has made getting even dry fodder hard,” he said.

He further added that there was a high chance of losing precious cattle for which the government had to compensate.

Meanwhile, farmers who had cultivated rain-fed crops felt that the compensation amount given to them was not adequate. The Government had announced Rs. 3,000 as compensation whereas the actual expense amounted up to Rs. 30,000.