On the tranquil banks of the Pampa River at Thakazhi in Alappuzha district, a modest, weathered building is buzzing with activity. In the heart of Kuttanad, a wetland ecosystem historically popular as the rice bowl of Kerala and spread across Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha districts, a group of experienced paddy farmers gather to collect seeds for the upcoming paddy crop. Which is given free of cost by the government. Pancha (Summer/Harvest-II, November-April) season. Farmers, after their regular preparations, prepare themselves for another season in the increasingly challenging world of paddy cultivation.
“These days, there is no guarantee of recovery of money spent on paddy cultivation, leave alone making profits,” says Mathew Thomas, an experienced paddy farmer, who loads sacks of paddy seeds into a vehicle .
Thomas cultivated paddy in 5.5 acres during the last Pancha season, but he suffered huge losses, due to which he had to abandon farming in the next crop season (Crop-I, May-October). “Low rainfall and extreme heat affected the crop. The average yield I got was only one ton per acre, which was much less than the 2-2.5 ton yield from an acre during a normal Pancha season. “A yield of more than 1.5 tonnes per acre is required to cover production costs,” explains Thomas.
Another farmer Santosh K. Says his average yield was 700 kg per acre. “There was a time when a family could earn its living by cultivating paddy, but this is no longer possible. Paddy cultivation is becoming increasingly unprofitable. Why do I still cultivate paddy? The answer is sheer passion,” says Santosh.
A few hundred meters away from the seed distribution center is the 320-acre Avelikkad paddy polder that lies below sea level between the Pampa and Manimala rivers and is accessible only by boat. After abandoning the recent crop cycle (Crop-I), the polder, where 144 farmers cultivate paddy, has been filled with water in preparation for the Pancha season.
“This was the first time in recent history that we completely abandoned paddy cultivation in the additional (crop-I) season, leading to huge losses in the pancha season due to poor yield,” says Chakkappan Antony, president of Avelikkad Paddy Polder.
According to him, most of the farmers in Avelikkad produced less than 1.5 tonnes per acre crop in the Pancha season. He says a yield of one tonne per acre yields ₹28,200, while the cost of cultivating one acre of paddy is around ₹35,000 (cost of paddy cultivation is higher in this region due to geographical peculiarities). “We hope that nature will be kind this season,” says Antony.
While paddy farmers in the Kuttanad region and other parts of Kerala have similar stories to share about the last Pancha season, the issues in the region go beyond that. The problems in the paddy sector, driven by a complex interplay of factors, are ringing alarm bells. If extreme heat was a problem during the Pancha season, recent years have seen frequent flash floods causing flooding. Issues in paddy procurement, long delays in receiving the purchase price and high labor costs are some of the main challenges adding to the troubles of farmers.
According to data provided by Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplico), the designated agency for paddy procurement in the state under the Food and Civil Supplies Department, paddy procurement in Kerala fell by 23.5% to 5.59 lakh tonnes in 2023. -7.31 lakh tonnes in 2022-23 to 24.
But this data may not be completely reliable, as there have been allegations in the past that farmers in the Palakkad region bordering Tamil Nadu were bringing in paddy from the neighboring state to take advantage of SupplyCo’s better procurement offers due to lower costs of production. Were. There. According to experts, the absence of this practice may also contribute to the decline in procurement figures.
In 2023-24, Supplyco managed to procure only 1.54 lakh tonnes of paddy during Crop-I and 4.05 lakh tonnes in Crop-II, compared to 2.27 lakh tonnes in Crop-I and 5.04 lakh tonnes in Crop-II last year. In 2021-22, including both crop seasons, the agency purchased 7.48 lakh tonnes.
In Palakkad, the state’s major rice-producing district, procurement fell from 2.92 lakh tonnes in 2022-23 to 1.83 lakh tonnes in 2023-24. Alappuzha, the second highest paddy producing district, saw a decline from 1.69 lakh tonnes to 1.60 lakh tonnes during the same period.
Along with the decline in procurement, the season also saw a decline in paddy acreage and number of farmers. In 2022-23, Supplyco procured paddy from 2.5 lakh farmers who cultivated it in 1.82 lakh hectares (hectares). This reduced to about two lakh farmers who grew crops in 1.71 lakh hectares after one year.
According to the Kerala State Planning Board’s Economic Review-2023, rice production in the state recorded a marginal increase from 5.59 lakh tonnes in 2021-22 to 5.93 lakh tonnes in 2022-23, while the area under cultivation declined from 1.94 lakh tonnes. Went. hectares to 1.90 lakh hectares in the same period. The report also said that in 2020-21, rice production in the state was 6.27 lakh tonnes and was cultivated in 2.02 lakh hectares. It further states that from 8.75 lakh hectares in 1970-71, the area under paddy cultivation in Kerala declined to 1.90 lakh hectares in 2022-23. “All districts except Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha and Kottayam recorded a decline in area under paddy in 2022-23 compared to 2021-22,” the report said. The latest data is awaited as the Economic Survey 2024 has not been published yet.
Experts and farmers attribute the decline in paddy cultivation, especially poor yield in the last Pancha season, to various factors including climate irregularities. M. Surendran, professor and head of MS Swaminathan Rice Research Station, Monkompu, says climate change is becoming a major threat to paddy cultivation. “Each year, the average minimum temperature is increasing, leading to an increase in the average maximum temperature. In general, the ideal average minimum temperature for paddy flowering was between 16 °C and 20 °C in the morning. However, in January and February 2024, the average minimum temperature was between 23.5°C and 25°C. This led to an increase in daily average temperatures, affecting flowering, fertilization and yield,” says Surendran.
According to data from the research centre, the region received only 76.1 mm rainfall in December 2023, compared to 168 mm rainfall during the same period a year ago. Only 6.5 mm rainfall occurred in January 2024, with no rainfall at all in February. “Lack of rain led to increased heat, which increased acidity levels in the soil and affected crops. Adequate rainfall between 30 and 60 days after sowing is important to keep acidity under control. Although the region recorded 76.1 mm rainfall in December, it did not help as most people sowed late. “Farmers need to follow the crop calendar and plant appropriate varieties to better manage changing climate conditions,” says Surendran.
Edathua is situated in Kuttanad, about 9 km from Thakazhi. Farmers are hard at work in the 200-acre Vadakara Edassery Varambinkam paddy polder, with many getting their feet stuck in mud while preparing the fields for the pancha season. More than a month ago, the polder was harvested using a combine harvester. Since the crop yield was less than expected, disappointment was clearly visible on the faces of the farmers. “In the last Pancha season, we got an average yield of 1.75 tonnes per acre. However, in the additional (harvest-I) season, the yield fell below one tonne,” says Cyriac Jose, secretary of Vadakara Edassery Varabinkam.
Apart from low yields, farmers are frustrated with the government’s “flawed” procurement policy, which often leads to delays in procurement and payment for harvested paddy, as well as reluctance to increase paddy procurement prices. Farmers in Vadakara Edassery Varambinkam are disappointed that they have not yet received payment for the paddy purchased in October.
Paddy farmers in the state receive the purchase amount from banks in the form of post-harvest loan on production of paddy receipt sheet issued by Supplyco. The government later returns this amount along with interest to the banks. Although the system was designed to prevent delays in receiving shares from both the central and state governments, farmers have experienced significant delays in receiving payments in recent years.
“Strict state-specific procurement policies and delays in payment for purchased produce are becoming hindrances to a large number of farmers, forcing them to opt for private markets even if the price of the agricultural crop is lower than the purchase price. Be very low,” notes. P. Indiradevi, Professor and Director of Research (Retd), Kerala Agricultural University. According to him, the procurement system can be made more efficient and effective with the participation of cooperative institutions.
Farmers preparing fields for paddy cultivation (Pancha/Crop-II) at Thakazhi in Kuttanad, Alappuzha. , Photo Courtesy: Suresh Alleppey
In terms of procurement price, it remains unchanged at ₹28.20 per kg from 2022-23. In 2021-22, Supplyco purchased paddy from farmers across the state at ₹28 per kg, which includes a minimum support price (MSP) of ₹19.40 provided by the central government and ₹8.60 as the state’s share. The following year, when the Center increased the MSP by ₹1 to ₹20.40, the state increased the total price by only 20 paise to ₹28.20, reducing its contribution to ₹7.80.
In 2023-24, the Center increased the MSP by another ₹1.43, but the state compensated by reducing its share by the same amount, keeping the procurement price unchanged. The Center again increased the MSP by ₹1.17 to ₹23 in June this year, but there is no increase from the state yet. The state government started reducing its share in 2021-22, taking the total cut to ₹2.43 between 2023-24. If it decides not to increase the purchase price in 2024-25, the state’s share will come down to ₹5.20.
While officials claim that paddy farmers in the state get better prices compared to other states, farmers say that high production costs and unpredictable weather conditions make paddy cultivation a loss-making proposition. Sonichen Pulinkunnu, general secretary of Nel Karshaka Sanrakshan Samiti, says that if the state government had not reduced its share in recent years, paddy farmers would now have received more than ₹32 per kg.
“According to Supplyco data, paddy procurement in 2023-24 stood at 5.59 lakh tonnes. When converted into rice, this quantity is less than four lakh tonnes. The government spends crores of rupees on purchasing rice grown in other states from the open market to meet the demand. Yet it is not committed to promoting agriculture. Thousands of hectares of agricultural land are lying idle across the state and available data shows that more than a lakh people have given up farming in recent years,” argues Pulinkunnu.
An expert committee led by retired IAS officer VK Baby had submitted its report on reforming the paddy procurement system as part of proposed reforms in the state several months ago, but the government is yet to act on its recommendations. Although the government has not officially released the report, it reportedly contains several suggestions to make the paddy procurement process more transparent and eliminate irregularities.
Steps have been taken to procure paddy from farmers in the 2024-25 season and transfer payments to their accounts without delay, Agriculture Minister P. Prasad said recently in reply to a question in the Assembly. “The agriculture department is providing full assistance to paddy farmers and is working to prevent reduction in paddy cultivation area in the state. The department strives to ensure maximum production by making available high quality, high yielding paddy seeds and providing technical guidance for adopting scientific farming methods,” the minister had said in a written reply in the Assembly.
Even though the government is making efforts to increase paddy production, the rice-loving state will continue to depend on other states to meet its annual demand of about 40 lakh tonnes of rice in the near future.
published – November 14, 2024 08:11 PM IST
