ALAPPUZHA: Agriculture and traditional industries in the district are facing a major crisis, leading to high rates of poverty in villages where a major section of population are engaged in farming and in the coir industry.

In per capita income, the district is positioned 13th in the State.

According to a seminar on "Livelihood crises in Alappuzha and micro-enterprises for sustainable development" organised by the district panchayat here on Thursday, the district is on the verge of the worst crisis in the agrarian sector.

The seminar noted a paradox in the coir industry, which employs the most number of workers in the manufacturing sector: export earnings of the industry had risen several fold over the last few years, but the earnings of the workers had come down.

According to a paper prepared by the Mararikkulam MLA, T.M. Thomas Issac, agricultural production in the district declined by nearly 9 per cent between 1999-2000 and 2003-2004. The situation had no parallel in post-Independence history, the paper noted.

While the share of agriculture in the State Domestic Product was 13 per cent, in Alappuzha, the sector contributed only 7.77 per cent of the income of the district. At the same time, 33 per cent of the total workforce in the district was employed in the agriculture sector.

The paper noted that area of paddy fields in the district in 2003-04 declined by 10 per cent compared with that in 1999-2000.

During the period, paddy production declined by 31 per cent. Paddy cultivation had ceased to be remunerative for farmers. The root-wilt disease and the mite menace had caused immeasurable damage to coconut cultivation in the district.

More than 80 per cent of the coconut palms in the district had been affected.

The paper noted that the share of the manufacturing sector in the district, which was mainly into coir-product manufacturing, had declined over the last few years.

While 23 per cent of the total workforce in the district was employed in the manufacturing sector, the share of the manufacturing sector in the district income was 13.4 per cent.

The paper noted that there was a decline in the per capita income of agricultural labourers, farmers, and coir workers and small-scale manufacturers of coir products.

Rural poverty

This had resulted in increased poverty among the rural masses as the bulk of the poor in villages were employed in these sectors.

The paper pointed out that 52.5 per cent of the number of rural families in Alappuzha could be considered below-the-poverty line families.

In the State as a whole, only 37 per cent of the total number of rural families fell in that category. Alappuzha had the highest proportion of population below poverty line, the paper added.

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