Kuttanad: A drowning granary of Kerala
Kuttanad, the granary of Kerala which is spread over the central travancore faces a big threat to its existence. The agriculture is made possible in this land, which is below the sea level, by a great hard work. The poor farmers of Kuttanad are pushed to big loses. The government is not interested in all these and adequate compensations were also not provided. Kuttanad project suggested by Dr. MS Swaminathan remains in papers. Here let us see the problems of Kuttanad...
Kuttanad is a scenic beauty with its exotic backwaters and never ending paddy fields. Though it is about a meter below the sea level, it was a granary of Kerala. A major share of rice production of Kearala was constituted by the paddy fields of Kuttanad. Paddy cultivation was carried out twice an year in most of the kuttanadan fields. But now this great agrarian sector is in the midst of a big crisis. The farmers in Kuttanad faces a big threat to their existence due to the continuing loses because of unexpected rains, lack of laborers & machinery, Increasing cost of production and all. Even in this situation, there was no noticeable moves from the government to help these farmers and protect the 'drowning' of this granary. Kuttanad: A saga of engineering potential of keralites
Kuttanad is one of the few places in the world which is about one meter below the sea level. And turning of this marshy land into a cultivable soil required a great hard work, yet our forefathers done that. They started cultivation by converting the 'kayals' into fields and constructing adequate bunds for protection. This remains as a great surprise to the outside world, even in this present world.
Kuttanad is divided into upper kuttanad and lower kuttanad. It spreads over the civil districts of Alappuzha, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta. In the past, most of the kuttanadan fields was with the great farmer 'Murikkan'. He actually converted this land to a fertile soil and grown paddy. His great success remains as a wonder and mystery even now. His successful saga came to an end when the government took the fields and divided it among the farmers. From there onwards the fame of Kuttanad started to deteriorate. But it still remained to be a granary of the state.Recent crises and continuing loses in Kuttanad
Now the kuttanadan farmers are earning continues loses from the fields. Over the past few years, it was due to the lack of laborers and machinery. The number of laborers was not adequate to the actual needs. Yet the communist party and the unions opposed the use of machinery. Due to the lack of laborers and machinery, the farmers were unable to save the mature paddies and usually the rain had only the remaining part to do. The crops were wasted by the delay in collecting and also due to unexpected rains. But the farmers were not getting adequate compensations too. In this condition, many of the farmers left the field and there was a move from real estate giants to capture this land. They also had the support of some of the higher members of ruling communist party. They joined hand with the real estate giants to convert this granary into multy specialty hotels and golf courts!!!
In order to solve all the problems of Kuttanad and support the agriculture, Dr MS Swaminathan commission proposed a project and the central government approved it. But there was no move from the state government to implement the project in time and save the cultivation. Seems they have no interest in it!!! They wanted mutly specialty shopping malls but not the paddy fields!!!
The present crisis is due to the unexpected heavy rainfall. There was a time delay to start the cultivation. In addition the rain washed out all the seeds. There was a heavy lose to the farmers. This year, the seed were obtained at a higher rate and the farmers took a lot of loans. In order to start again it need more finance. Yet, even if re farmed, there is no guarantee to collect the grown paddy. It will be the time of heavy rains in Kerala.
As compensation, government decided Rs 10000 per acre. But it was too low. According to Fr. Thomas Peelianikal, executive director of Kuttanad Vikasana Samithi (KVS- A venture of Archdiocese of Changanacherry to help the kuttanad ) the farmers had a lose of about Rs 90000 per acre. According to him, the government should ensure proper compensation to farmers, should provide adequate laborers & machinery and should start to implement suggestions of Kuttanad project by MS Swaminathan. He points out that even the implementation of this project can not bring Kuttanad to adequate levels, in this present condition.
Even though the facts are like this, the government seems to have no interest in these issues, but only KVS have. The government continues its sleeping, even in the midst of such a big crisis, like the Emperor Nero who enjoyed playing the instrument while the Rome was burning. If this condition remains unchecked, surely it will mark the drowning of this fertile land and a great granary of Kerala.
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