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G.K. Nair

KOCHI, May 5

FOODGRAIN production in Kerala has been dropping significantly in recent decades following a continuous shift towards other commercial crops, which have also, of late, became uneconomical.

The State which used to produce 14 lakh tonnes of rice in 1975 today produces only 7.71 lakh tonnes, as against the annual demand of 42 lakh tonnes, while the area under paddy has dropped from nine lakh hectares to 3.5 lakh hectares.

Even for vegetables, the State has to depend on supplies from outside. The annual vegetable demand is estimated at two lakh tonnes per annum. The same is the case with pulses and cereals.

When 80 per cent of country's cultivable area is used for growing foodgrain crops, in Kerala 80 per cent of such area is being used for commercial crops like rubber, cashew, tea, coffee, pepper, arecanut and coconut.

Of the gross cropped area, food crops comprising rice, pulses, minor millets and tapioca occupy only around 20 per cent.

"The Kerala agricultural economy has undergone a structural transformation from the mid-70s by switching over a large proportion of its traditional areas which were devoted for subsistence crops like rice and tapioca to more remunerative crops like coconut and rubber,'' a senior Government official said.

Today, the area under paddy is only 13.04 per cent, coconut 29.71 per cent, rubber 15.67 per cent, pepper 6.07 per cent, arecanut 2.47 per cent, cashew 3.10 per cent, coffee 2.80 per cent, tea 1.18 per cent and tapioca 4.09 per cent.

Given the intense competition in the national and international food sectors, greater efficiency in production through improvement in productivity and competitiveness through cost reduction is crucial even for sustaining the State's current share in national and international trade, he added.

"Unfortunately, Kerala does not appear to have a competitive edge with respect to any crop, now except perhaps cardamom (small).''

Most of the paddy and tapioca growers have shifted to rubber, coconut and other cash crops because of comparatively and even more remunerative prices of these crops.

Paddy cultivation has turned out to be non-lucrative because of non-availability of labour, higher wages and low productivity. Mechanisation is impossible because of opposition from trade unions.

The farmers feel that it would be economical to buy rice imported from other States in the open market with the high income they earn from the commercial crops.

Now the situation has changed and rather reversed with the continuous decline in the prices of these commercial crops.

Paddy cultivation has to be encouraged through Government assistance, both financial and technical, and mechanisation, the official said.

A State Planning Board source said: "Because of the predominance of cash crops in the agriculture of the State, the per capita consumption of non-food items is very high relative to other parts of the country.''

The size of land holdings has become quite small, the average size being less than 0.4 hectare. About 90 per cent of the holdings are below half a hectare in size. There is, thus, acute pressure on land, making agriculture less attractive.

On the other hand, the extreme pressure on land had resulted in large-scale encroachment of forest lands, resulting in denudation of green canopy, he added.

This has had adverse impact on the ecology of many parts and has been one of the major causes of frequent droughts and floods and of degradation of lands in hilly areas.

Increased consumption of coconut oil coupled with production of value-added coconut products could enhance the income of the coconut growers.

Similarly, more and more natural rubber and rubberwood-based industries could absorb a substantial quantity of rubber.

Besides, road rubberisation could be a potential area where rubber could be utilised for increasing its demand.

Promoting coconut shell, wood and coir-based cottage and small-scale units are also potential areas in which employment could be generated.

However, all these require a comprehensive agriculture policy keeping in mind the challenges faced by the agricultural sector in the State, especially in the wake of globalisation and liberalisation of the economy, the source said.

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