Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
high levels of pesticides and also heavy metals, the later as a result of the many
chemical industries that sprang up to provide chemical fertilizers.
Health hazards became unimaginably high. Incidence of fatal diseases rose.
Hospitals with modern amenities came up in the cities as profitmaking indus-
tries. Pharmaceuticals flourished.
Food crops became non-atractive, while cash crops became more remu-
nerative. R ice fields have been filled up for nonagricultural activities. The area
[planted with] cash crops expanded during the last 20 years (16 percent in rubber
alone), while that [planted with] food crops plummeted (to just 9 percent of the
total cultivated area). The monoculture of such economically valuable crops led
to soil erosion and loss of soil fertility to a great extent. The advent of chemical-
intensive farming and its prevalence in Kerala for the past 50 years . . . resulted
in the near stagnant levels of productivity of many . . . economically important
crops such as coconut, cashew, pepper, coffee, tea, cardamom, and areca nut.
Besides these, many regions in Kerala, [such as] Wayanad, started facing acute
water scarcity. The State has taken note of it and given priority in the Eleventh
Five- Year Plan.
[In addition], economic liberalization and WTO policies added to the woes of
the farmers by bringing down the prices of agricultural commodities. [Farmers]
are caught in a debt trap, owing [money on] the loans taken to meet the high cost
of farming, as it demanded more external inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides,
and water. These led to increasing instances of suicide by farmers. Investment
in agriculture has essentially changed from the farmer to the industries sup-
plying input to the farmer, and as a direct consequence, net income for farmers
decreased while the industries supporting agriculture in the country flourished.
The national policies of opening a retail sector to national and multinational
companies pose a great threat to our food sovereignty and right to safe food.
The enhanced “food miles” led to increased carbon emission, further increas-
ing the load of greenhouse gases. The potent danger of introducing Genetically
Modified crops, the monopoly of seeds by national and multinational corporate
bodies, could very well be the last straw on the camel's back for the farmers of
Kerala.
Many farmers have realized that they are ighting a losing batle with the
“high yield variety—fertilizer-pesticide pack ” of the Green Revolution. They
have also realized that the degradation and disruption of the fragile ecosystems
of the “God's own country” are the chief culprits for the water scarcity, nutri-
tional insecurity, loss of primary productivity, and agrarian crisis being faced
by the State.
The farmers in Kerala are convinced that the only way [out] is to return to
