farmers switching from paddy cultivation to other crops

Most of the farmers in kerala which was once full of paddy cultivating fields has switched to cultivation of crops like plantain and other tube crops. Those stills sticking to paddy cultivation are fighting a losing battle owing to high wages and low yield.

The unavailability of laborers high wages and increase in the cost of fertilizers and pesticides have made paddy cultivation non profitable. Moreover flow of water in the fields cannot be regulated as in the past as many houses have come up in paddy fields .The cultivation of other crops prevents proper flow of water. It is alathur , chittur and Palakkad taluks which account for the largest share of paddy cultivation in the district. The share of manarkad and ottapalam taluks have been decreasing due to pressure on land and non profitability .In kerala paddy cultivation declined from 850000 hectares in 1980-81 to 2,30,000 hectares in 2007-08 said desiya karshaka samajam state general  secretary muthalamthode mani.He said that the yield from paddy is high in alathur Palakkad and Chittur taluks where a farmer can get as much as 1500 to 2000 kilograms per acre while in other taluks it will be half the quantity

Though yields are high the farmers are unable to make profit due to the procurement price announced by the govt

Be that as it may ,transplantation of paddy sapling is still continuing in many parts of Palakkad district as excess rains has led to water logging in the fields.

By: k.mohan