The Hindu : Kerala News : Call for integrated approach to save paddy cultivation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 26, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Call for integrated approach to save paddy cultivation

By T. Ramavarman

THRISSUR, JUNE 25. Only an integrated approach networking the farmers, scientists, market and the Government can salvage the paddy fields in the State, which are dwindling at an alarming rate, according to experts.

Pointing out that the gross paddy-cultivated area in the State had declined from nearly 8.5 lakh hectares 20 years ago to 3.75 lakh hectares now, they told The Hindu here that the situation could take a disastrous turn unless immediate corrective measures were taken. Even this gross area is worked out by including the three-crop cultivation, and the net area where paddy is cultivated in the State is only 2.5 lakh hectares. Also, the State now produces only seven lakh tonnes of rice whereas its demand was for 40 lakh tonnes, and it was dependent on the neighbouring States for the remaining 33 lakh tonnes, said C.K. Peethambaran, Director of Research of the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU).

Emphasising the need to preserve at least the remaining paddy fields in the State, the former Vice-Chancellor of the KAU, K.N. Shyamasundaran Nair, said the farmers could be persuaded in this direction only if paddy cultivation was made an economically attractive proposition. In Kerala, the cost of labour was the major factor that made paddy cultivation expensive and it accounted for nearly two-thirds of the total investment needed for this sector whereas in other States, it was only one-third of the total input cost. The emphasis therefore should be on mechanisation. So, along with efforts to develop high-yielding varieties of rice, there should be concerted plans to develop technologies that were helpful in the mechanisation of paddy cultivation in different agro-environmental zones of the State, he said.

Technology should aid farmers not only in areas like broadcasting of seeds, weed removal, harvesting and threshing, but in other sectors such as irrigation, which in the Kerala context often meant creating proper conduits to drain out surplus waters, he said. Dr. Nair, who headed the panel on paddy cultivation appointed by the previous LDF regime, however, said it would be unrealistic to launch schemes for making the State self-sufficient in rice. "There is nothing wrong in importing rice from other States provided we have the money. But we have to prevent the conversion of existing paddy lands so as to ensure that we produced some quantity of rice on our own `in the unlikely event of a crisis' on the import front. So the paddy fields can be used for cultivating crops such as banana, as the land can be easily brought back to paddy cultivation in a crisis period," he said.

Specialised varieties

Dr. Peethambaran suggested that encouraging cultivation of specialised varieties such as medicinal and aromatic rice, which can fetch higher values in the market, would go a long way in making paddy farms lucrative. There must also be efforts to promote post-harvest technologies for value-addition of such varieties. But, there must be an effective mechanism to market such specialised varieties and the value-added products made from them. "Many Ayurveda firms have complained that they do not get adequate quantity of `Njavara rice', which has high medical application. Farmers are reluctant to cultivate this variety as they do not get good price and are not able to reach the proper market. While in the market, one kg of `Njavara' rice costs about Rs. 150, the farmer gets only Rs. 25, indicating that the middle-men are minting money," said P.V. Balachandran of the Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS) of the KAU in Pattambi.

Emphasising the importance of paddy fields from the environmental point of view, Dr. Balachandran and the Director of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation's centre at Kalpetta, N. Anilkumar, said, "While we were all talking about digging rain-pits, the paddy fields are the natural rain-water harvesting areas."

Dr. Balachandran and Dr. Peethambaran suggested that the Government must support rice cultivation as a social necessity. Farmers should be given productivity-linked incentives and the provisions of the Land Utilisation Act should be implemented more rigorously to prevent indiscriminate conversion of paddy fields. Even developed countries like Japan were giving incentives to farmers to preserve certain farms for the cultivation of some specific items, Dr. Peethambaran said.

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