The Hindu : National : Paddy, politics and the Kerala farmers

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Tuesday, Apr 11, 2006

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National

Paddy, politics and the Kerala farmers

The agricultural crisis in Kerala is bound to have an impact on the Assembly elections, says G. Prabhakaran and A. Harikumar

POLL THEME - AGRARIAN CRISIS

Kerala's agriculture is in crisis today. Nearly 1500 farmers have committed suicide in the last five years, mainly in Wayanad and Palakkad, the two farm-dominated backward districts.

In a State where a third of the 3.2 crore population depends on agriculture for its survival, globalisation and the opening up of the economy have hit the farmers hard. Eighty per cent of the land is used for cultivation of export-oriented plantation crops, whose prices are at the mercy of a volatile international commodities market. The prices of cash crops like coconut, tea, coffee, cardamom and pepper have fallen steeply in the last few years, with only rubber ruling steady.

The dimensions of the crisis are illustrated by the following simple fact: rice is the staple food of Kerala, but the State produces only three-weeks requirement.

In the `rice bowls' of the State — Palakkad and Kuttanad, part of Alleppey district — there is an alarming decline in the extent of area under paddy cultivation.

According to the Economic and Statistics Department, total paddy cultivation in Kerala is 3,10,521 hectares; in Palakkad it is 1,15,910 hectares in three seasons (down from 1.47 lakh hectares in 1992).

The drop in paddy cultivation is because farmers don't find it remunerative; but ironically, the switch to cash crops has left them at the mercy of the world market.

The trend whereby large number of farmers abandoned paddy and converted wetlands to grow cash crops, has also led to environmental problems as paddy fields are water conservation reservoirs.

Though the Government introduced procurement for paddy at a support price of Rs.7 per kilo, it miserably failed to procure paddy in time at the support price. The Government entrusted the job to the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation, which in turn handed over the job to private rice mills.

The irony here is that the support price and procurement schemes were meant to save farmers from exploitation by middlemen and private rice mill owners.

Since paddy was not procured at the time of harvest, farmers were forced to sell it at Rs.5 per kg, causing huge losses to farmers already reeling under debt.

Most paddy farmers in the State are marginal farmers, with the average holding only 0.33 hectares, which is one-fifth the national average. In Palakkad, it is comparatively higher — 0.66 hectares. The relatively larger holdings, better irrigation, soil fertility and higher productivity, and lesser migration of labour are some of the factors, which have sustained rice production in Palakkad.

Support price

Polpully Vasudevan, winner of the Kerala Government's best farmer award, says the paddy procurement scheme has totally failed, with farmers forced to sell paddy at Rs.4 to 5 per kilo against the support price of Rs.7. This is happening when the price of rice per kilogram in the open market is more than Rs.15. If farmers get just half the market price, they could easily sustain paddy cultivation.

Another major issue in Palakkad is the non-availability of irrigation water from the inter-state Parambikulam Aliyar Project (PAP). Under the agreement between Kerala and Tamil Nadu, Chittur taluk should get 7.25 TMC of water annually for paddy cultivation. But in most years, Tamil Nadu does not release the agreed water.

Leader of the Opposition and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member V.S. Achuthanandan, who is contesting from Malampuzha constituency in Palakkad, said that if the Left Democratic Front returned to power, it would review the PAP and Mullaperiyar agreements to protect the State's water resources.

In Kuttanad, flaws in the procurement of paddy by the Civil Supplies Corporation from farmers and clashes between farmers and farm workers over harvesting of paddy are likely to be key issues in the campaign. In Kuttanad Assembly constituency, paddy farmers and farm labourers constitute a majority of the voters.

Farmers complain that thousands of tonnes of paddy are lying in makeshift godowns in Kuttanad. Farmers' resentment is likely to pose problems for the Congress-led UDF. But the LDF may not be able to cash in on this as sections of farmers nurse a grudge towards the CPI(M), because the Kerala State Karshaka Thozhilali Union (KSKTU), affiliated to CITU, a CPI(M) trade union, opposes mechanised harvesting.

Paddy farmer A. Philippose of Changamkary in Kuttanad says that empowering private rice mills to procure paddy from farmers and resell it to the Government as rice, would be effective if enough mills were empowered to do so; but there is only one mill empowered to buy paddy from a panchayat, which is grossly insufficient.

Purushothama Das, a farmer in Ramankary, says some of the mills were deliberately delaying procurement to force farmers to sell paddy at a lower than the procurement price of Rs.707 per quintal.

LDF candidate and sitting Kuttanad MLA K.C. Joseph of the Kerala Congress (Joseph) says the State Government is solely responsible for inefficient procurement.

The UDF candidate, Thomas Chandy of Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran), says officials of Civil Supplies Corporation are primarily responsible for the delay in procurement; he also blames the sitting MLA for the delay.

Whoever is to blame, one thing is sure: the farm crisis is going to be a major issue in the Assembly elections, especially in the agriculture dominated districts of Palakkad, Alleppey, Wayanad and Idukki.

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