Recent rain leads to early carrot harvest and price fall in the Nilgiris

Heavy rainfall implicit the past week has disrupted carrot cultivation successful the Nilgiris, forcing farmers to harvest aboriginal arsenic waterlogging successful farmlands has begun damaging the crop. The aboriginal harvest has besides led to a autumn successful prices successful the section markets.

Joint Director of Horticulture, S. Shibila Mary, said astir 430 hectares of carrot fields were acceptable for harvest successful October. “The terms of carrot, which was ₹45 to ₹50 per kg connected October 22, dropped to ₹30 to ₹40 per kg by Wednesday (October 29, 2025). Earlier this month, it had touched ₹60 to ₹80 per kg. The driblet is owed to precocious harvests that brought surplus quantities to the marketplace this week,” she said.

Farmers said carrot, a 120-day crop, are usually harvested betwixt 100 and 120 days from sowing to harvest, erstwhile they scope afloat maturation successful taste, colour, size, and weight. Continuous rainfall has, however, forced galore to wide their fields early.

“Many farms person go waterlogged. If the harvest is near successful specified conditions, the roots commencement rotting, fungal infections develop, and the prime and support beingness decline,” said R. Hari Haran, a husbandman from Ketti Palada.

“When we harvested early, lone astir 50 per cent of the nutrient was successful bully condition. The remainder had to beryllium discarded due to the fact that the carrots had either started rotting oregon cracking. Many farmers person begun harvesting adjacent astatine 80 oregon 90 days, irrespective of the maturation stage, to debar further damage,” helium added.

According to information from the Horticulture Department, rainfall during the week damaged crops connected astir 10.03 hectares, affecting 49 farmers successful total. The affected crops see carrot (7.39 ha), murphy (0.26 ha), beetroot (0.47 ha), chow chow (0.95 ha), reddish cabbage (0.15 ha), cabbage (0.08 ha), iceberg lettuce (0.25 ha), zucchini (0.35 ha), and insignificant vegetables specified arsenic broccoli (0.13 ha).