Scorching summer takes toll on Kerala’s farm sector
The scorching summer heat has dealt a sharp blow to Kerala’s farm sector, affecting close to 25,000 farmers and destroying crops — primarily banana, cardamom and paddy — worth 100.5 crore, as per the latest available data.
Nearly half of the a¡ected farmers are from the Idukki district, according to a preliminary report compiled by the State Agriculture Department, based on crop loss inputs drawn from the farming community.
According to the summary report for the period from February 1 to May 5, farmers across all 14 districts have reported crop loss totalling 100.5 crore, with Idukki alone accounting for 42.43 crore, followed by Palakkad at 16.50 crore. Of the 24,984 farmers a¡ected, 12,578 are from Idukki, 2,573 from Palakkad, 2,913 from Kannur and 2,409 from Kollam.
Crop-wise losses include banana (bunched and non-bunched) on 2,530.54 hectares, cardamom on 1,722.58 hectares, paddy (main eld) on 1,468.12 hectares and pepper (bearing and non-bearing) on 281.24 hectares. Coconut, vegetables, areca nut, nutmeg, sesamum and cocoa also have taken hits, but to a lesser degree.
Banana farmers have sustained losses worth approximately 40 crore, cardamom cultivators 12.05 crore, pepper 16.97 crore, and paddy 22.02 crore.
Considering the gravity of the situation, the Agriculture department has created block-level teams of experts to carry out detailed, eld-level inspections. A preliminary assessment concluded that the drought-like situation has led to the drying up of water sources, causing not just crop loss but also fall in yield and quality. The reports are expected to be submitted by May 9.
Rainfall de cit
India Meteorological Department (IMD) data show that rainfall has been scanty this summer in the agricultural districts of Kerala. Overall, summer rainfall fell short by 65% (large deficient in IMD parlance) compared to the normal between March 1 and May 6. The data on rainfall decit for selected agricultural districts are as follows: Idukki (-82%), Palakkad (-87%), Thrissur (-84%), Alappuzha (-33%).
For helping the farmers tackle the situation, Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) has been providing weekly crop advisories through All India Radio and its website. The KAU has advised farmers to try out drought-resilient crop varieties, ensure adequate irrigation and adopt measures that help to retain water content in the soil.