The 26 December 2004 earthquake (9.4
on the Richter scale) in the Indian Ocean
led to generation of tsunami which
caused devastative damages to human
life, natural resources, livelihood assets
and infrastructure. In the context of agriculture,
the tsunami caused severe damage
to standing crops as well as agricultural
fields in Kancheepuram, Villupuram,
Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Thirunelveli
and Kanyakumari Districts in Tamil
Nadu, of which Nagapattinam was the
worst affected district. In this district, the
basic resources such as soil and water in
the farm were severely affected; while
common and grazing lands got salinized.
Nearly, 4657 ha of cultivated area were
affected due to salinization, of which
1367 ha were subjected to sand and
silt/clay deposition.