Fallow Land converted to Rice Field

Source:  The Hindu Business Line - August 16, 2011
Kerala has been a food deficit State for a long time now. Rice, which was the staple grain of its population, has made a smart comeback in the State, after a long hiatus. The falling trend in rice production has been reversed. Production and productivity of rice, which have been languishing for couple of decades, have now shown signs of growth. 

But for the current year, agricultural production will almost directly depend on the extent and pattern of rainfall over the highlands, midlands and low lands of Kerala. Thankfully, the rains during the South-West monsoon have been bounteous, maybe a bit on the higher side, Dr P.V. Balachandran, Director-Extension of the Kerala Agricultural University, said.

In fact, the State received two per cent excess rainfall at 1,570 mm till August 10 against 1, 536 mm last year. Most districts received fair amount of rainfall. The rain should facilitate good agricultural production this year.

The area under rice cultivation in the State had fallen sharply from 8.7 lh (lh) in 1970-71 to 2.3 lakh h in 2007-08. Production also plunged from 13.5 lakh tonnes to 5.8 lakh tonnes in the same period. But a slow and steady recovery has been evident since 2009-10, when the area under rice had grown close to 20,000 ha and production had grown by 1.25 lakh tonnes.

Last year's production, for which no published figures are available yet, should also be higher, Dr Balachandran said. It is quite unlikely that it will be on the lower side. While there is no shift in area from cash crops to paddy, the area lying fallow has been dropping in the State. More panchayats are now declaring themselves to be fallow-free. These growth trends are expected to boost the area under paddy in the current year. Productivity of rice had grown from 2.3 to 2.5 tonnes per hectare.