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Paddy cultivation in Kuttanadu thomascombi doc
Paddy cultivation in Kuttanadu thomascombi doc

(ii)
Dewatering
Prior to the installation of electric and diesel pump sets, manually operated wooden wheels called chakrams were used to bailout the excess water from padasekharams. These wheels were not of uniform size. Depending on its size the number of leaves in a wheel varied from 8 to 24. In order to operate a large size wheel having leaves six healthy labourers were needed at a time. They satin a vertical array and pushed the leaves using their legs in the rhythm of folk songs called
thekku pattu. Usually such labourers worked in shifts of 3 hours and two shifts of labour was considered as a full day’s work. Dewatering operation once began had to be continued day and night without interruption until the entire excess water is bailed out from the paddy fields. Even after the widespread use of diesel and electric pump sets in the study area, the traditional wheels had been used in small padasekharams until a few years back. At present in all of the padasekharams in the study area irrespective of their size, electric pump sets are used for dewatering. However, the number and

capacity of pump sets vary in accordance with the size and depth of padasekharams. Ina single padasekharam called Thekkethollayiram at Ramankari with a total area of
90 acres 9 pump sets are installed and their capacity ranges from 25 to 50 HP. The task of dewatering is entrusted to private contractors who get the contract in auction. Like the ring bund repair charges, dewatering charges are also shared jointly by the concerned farmers in each padasekharam on the basis of their paddy land sizes. Usually dewatering operations for the summer crop begin by the end of September when the water level in padasekharams declines to manageable limits and it lasts for 3 to 5 weeks without break.

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