The Hindu : Kerala News : Agrarian economy in bad shape, says Gouri

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Sunday, May 01, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

Agrarian economy in bad shape, says Gouri

Staff Reporter

`Achieve price competitiveness'

KOCHI: Kerala has been at the receiving end ever since the economic liberalisation under the WTO regime came into effect, the Agriculture Minister, K. R. Gouri, said here on Saturday.

The State's agrarian economy has been thrown out of gear mainly due to cheap and highly subsidised agricultural imports, she said at a seminar on WTO and Agreement on Agriculture (AOA), organised by the Coconut Development Board and the Cochin University of Science and Technology.

The Industries Minister, V. K. Ebrahim Kunju, the former Ambassador to WTO, S. Narayanan, the Vice-Chancellor of CUSAT, P. K. Abdul Aziz, Biswajit Dhar of the Centre for WTO Studies, New Delhi, K. A. Zakhariya, CUSAT Syndicate member, were among the speakers.

Ms. Gouri said there had been a crash in coconut prices in the recent past. Similarly, prices of rubber, arecanut, coffee and pepper had witnessed a fall in prices, she said.

Edible oil sector

She said the impact of WTO on India's edible oil sector had been serious. The import of edible oil had increased from one lakh tonne in 1992-93 to 52.90 lakh tonnes in 2003-04. About 47 per cent of the edible oil available in India was imported.

The percentage contribution to export earnings by coconut industry in the country was a mere 0.20 per cent. Other countries producing coconuts have advanced in product diversification. The coconut products from India had to be price competitive. This could be achieved by reduction in cost of production. With the prevalence of high labour charges, the only option was to increase productivity. The productivity in Kerala was lower than the national average.

Product diversification

She said the efforts for product diversification and value addition to coconut products had to reach new heights to become competitive in the international trade scenario. Kerala had appointed a commission under the chairmanship of M. S. Swaminathan to examine the WTO concerns in agriculture in the State. The Commission had submitted its report and the Government was taking action based on it, she said.

Mr. Ibrahim Kunju released a book on Kerala economy, edited by D. Rajasenan, Director of Interational Centre for Economic Policy and Analysis, CUSAT. The Minister stressed the need to strengthen the agro-based economy. At present, the State was heavily dependent on NRI income, he pointed out.

The chairperson of Coconut Development Board, Minnie Mathew, welcomed the gathering while the chief coconut development officer, Thomas Mathew, proposed a vote of thanks.

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