Erode - General Information

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Erode - General Information

Agriculture is one of the main occupation of the people from the District of Erode. All type of agricultural goods are being produced and marketed here. The prominent ones are Rice, Turmeric and coconuts. The soils of the district are mostly red sand and gravel with moderate amounts of red-loam and occasional black loam tracts. Vast stretches of the upland regions are mostly and gravelly. Red-loam occurs mostly in land under Kalingarayan channel and in beds of tanks in Erode Taluk and to some lesser extent in the valleys in Perundurai and Dharapuram taluks. It also occurs in the hilly tracts of Bhavani taluk.

Soils of Bhavani, Erode, Dharapuram and Perundurai taluks are chiefly gravelly, stony and sandy of the red variety. Soils of Gobichettipalayam and Sathyamangalam taluks are mostly of the red sandy variety. Red loam is prevalent mostly in Gobichettipalayam and Perundurai taluks. Though the district cannot boost of great mineral wealth, it has a few varied items of significance. Both opaque and translucent varieties of fine quality of Feldspar is found abundantly in Erode taluk. Mica and Muscovite occur in Vairamangalam near Bhavani and near Punjai Puliampatti respectively. Asbestos is found to occur in a few places of Bhavani and Perundurai. Doddan Combai forest in Gobichettipalayam is bestowed with rich iron ore. This ore is found to be of very fine quality and rich in metal. Traces of gold also have been found in a few auriferous veins in Gobichettipalayam.

Bhavani, Cauvery, Amaravathy and Noyyal are the main rivers of the district. Other significant rivers are Palar in the North, Vatamalaikarai odai and Uppar rivers in the south. Palar constitutes the boundary between Erode district and Karnataka State in the North. The Bhavanisagar main canal along with the above mentioned rivers provide proper drainage and facilities for assured irrigation in the district. Bhavani rises in the silent valley in Palghat ranges in the neighbouring State of Kerala after receiving Siruvani, a perennial stream of Coimbatore District and gets reinforced by the Kundah river before entering Erode District in Gobichettipalayam.

Bhavani is more or less a perennial river fed mostly by the South-West monsoon. North-East monsoon also supplements its water resources. This river runs for over hundred miles through Erode District traversing through Bhavani and Gobichettipalayam taluks. It feeds the Bhavanisagar reservoir which takes an easterly course flowing through Gobichettipalayam, Sathyamangalam and Bhavani taluks before it ultimately joins river Cauvery on the Salem borders.

Cauvery rising in the Coorg, is joined by many small tributaries. It turns through Karnataka and at Hogenakal fall takes a sharp turn, east to south. Before reaching this point, its main tributary, viz., river Kabini joins it. From here it takes a south-easterly direction forming the boundary between Bhavani taluk of Erode District and Tiruchengode taluk of the neighbouring Namakkal District. After river Bhavani flows into it, the south-easterly course is continued forming the boundary between Erode taluk of Erode District and Tiruchengode taluk of Namakkal taluk. Noyyal river is noted for its capricious nature.

This is fed mostly by the South-West monsoon but the North-East monsoon brings freshes and this very often results in floods. Inspite of its unpredictable character, the river helps to irrigate considerable areas in Palladam taluk of Coimbatore Distrtict and Dharapuram taluk of Erode District. River Amaravathy which rises in the Travancore region of Kerala enters Erode District from Udumalaippettai taluk in Coimbatore District. The river flows through Dharapuram before it joins Cauvery in Karur District.

The sub-soil in most parts of the district being sandy and surface soil thin and of poor quality, the farmers have to depend heavily on irrigation facilities. The uncertain aspects of North-Eastern monsoon and not too favorable contribution from the South-West monsoon make the plight of local agriculturists miserable. The chief sources of irrigation in the district are the canals and wells and these constitute the main stay of the farmers. As noted earlier, the main sources of irrigation are the canals and wells. Canals under various irrigation projects together help to irrigate about 98,805 hectares of land while the wells irrigated 68,570 hectares. Area irrigated by tanks and springs and channels are negligible. The net area irrigated under various sources together constitute 58.9% area irrigated to total area sown in the district. The net area irrigated in the district totals to 209,432 hectares.

Rivers in the western ghats and fed mostly by the south-west monsoon are the chief sources of irrigation in the district. These rivers are Cauvery, Amaravathy and Noyyal. Apart from these main rivers, there are a few uncertain jungle streams which also contribute towards better irrigation and drainage in a small way. The main irrigation projects of consequence in the district are the Amaravathy reservoir project and the lower Bhavani project. Amaravathy river with a number of small anicuts across it contributes in no small measure to the irrigation potential. The numerous small canals from Amaravathy have been reconditioned under the grow more Food Campaign. These together with Amaravathy reservoir project prove to be a boon to the agriculturists in the district especially Dharapuram area. The completion of lower Bhavani project under First-Five-year Plan has boosted the irrigation resources considerably.

Erode - General Information

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