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Scenario Analysis of Rice Cultivation in Kerala

H. Athira1 and N. Kishore Kumar2

ABSTRACT

 Rice is the staple food crop of Kerala. At present only 12% of the gross cropped area 
in the state is under paddy. The paddy fields in Kerala are constantly getting converted 
for other purposes. A steady decline in the area under rice cultivation occurred from 1980s 
onwards. This paper studies the changing trend in rice cultivation and provides the factors 
leading to shifting of rice cultivation.

Keywords : Rice, scenario analysis, Kerala.

1. PG Scholar and 2. Professor, Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Kerala Agricultural 
University, Vellayani-695 522
Received : 28-03-2017; Accepted : 13-04-2017

 Rice is the second largest cereal 
produced and consumed in the world. 
India occupies second  position in terms 
of its production. India is one of the 
world's largest producer of white rice and 
brown rice, accounting for 20% of global 
rice production. 

 Kerala, a constituent state of 
India has a rich history and tradition of 
rice cultivation. The very first thing that 
comes to our mind when we say Kerala, 
is her green cover and paddy fields. But 
today the situation is different. Paddy 
fields in Kerala are fast disappearing. 

 Lush green fields which once 
invoked prosperity and growth are now 
invaded by concrete buildings and sky 
touching malls showing a way to an 
uncertain future. 

 The Palakkad district, which is 
considered the rice bowl of Kerala, has lost         
1, 03,980 hectares of paddy fields in 

the last four decades. Even though 
the food habits of the people of Kerala 
had remarkably changed over the last 
few decades, rice still continues to be 
their staple food. The decline in paddy 
cultivation and large-scale reclamation 
of traditional rice fields have started to 
adversely affect groundwater availability 
in the state. Paddy fields can regulate 
atmospheric temperature to some extent. 
Studies attribute the increasing day time 
temperature in Palakkad district as a 
consequence of large-scale reclamation 
of paddy fields.

 Over the last ten years, however, 
there has been a commendable sign of 
revival in rice production in Kerala. The 
average productivity rose from 2.21t/ha 
in 2002-03 to 2.87t/ha by the year 2015. 

 This paper studies the changing 
trend in rice cultivation over the years and 
also reports the factors leading to shifting 

Research Note 
Journal of Extension Education
Vol. 28  No. 4,  2016
DOI:https://doi.org/10.26725/JEE.2016.4.28.5760-5763



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of rice cultivation. It also attempts to find 
out various constraints faced by farmers. 

METHODOlOGy
 The primary data for the study 
were collected from paddy farmers of 
Palakkad district of Kerala. Four blocks 
were purposively selected for this study. 
Palakkad district was selected because 
it occupies the first position in the 
production of rice in the state. According 
to the latest estimates, paddy is cultivated 
in around 83,998 hectares in the district. 
The secondary data for the study were 
collected from journals, publications 
by various academic organizations, 
research studies, and the data published 
in the official website of Economics and 
Statistics Department of Kerala. 

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Changing Trend in Rice Cultivation 
over the years 

 The area under paddy cultivation 
increased considerably during the first 
fifteen years after the State's formation 
– from 7, 60,000  hectares in 1955–56 to 
8,80,000 hectares in 1970–71.  In 1965–
66, rice accounted for the highest share 
of gross cropped area in Kerala (32 per 
cent of the total). There was, however, 
a steady decline in the area under rice 
cultivation from the 1980s onwards – 
from 8, 50,000 hectares in 1980–81 to 
5,60,000 hectares in 1990–91, and to 
2,30,000 hectares in 2007–08 (Thomas, 
2011). Presently rice is cultivated in an 
area of 1.98 lakh ha with a production 
of 5.62 lakh tonnes (GoK, 2017). Today, 

rice occupies only the third position 
among Kerala's agricultural crops with 
respect to area under cultivation, and 
unfortunately it is far behind coconut 
and rubber. 

Factors leading to Shifting of Rice 
Cultivation

 It is often felt that seasonal 
shortage of agricultural labour is a 
major factor leading to shifting of rice 
cultivation in Kerala today.  Movement of 
work force from agriculture to a diverse 
set of non-agricultural occupations has 
been occurring at a much faster rate 
in Kerala when compared to the rest of 
India from the early decades of the 20th 
century. The Mahatma Gandhi National 
Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme 
can be better utilized for resolving the 
labour shortage in agriculture (Thomas, 
2011). Inadequate irrigation facilities is 
another reason for shifting trends in rice 
production. Productivity is found to be 
low in areas which lacks proper irrigation 
facilities.   The factors perceived by the 
farmers for the declining trend in rice 
cultivation were ranked according to 
their importance and are presented in 
Table 1.
 Interestingly, some farmers 
pointed out that they are willing to 
enhance their cultivation if adequate 
irrigation facilities are available. Wild 
animal menace is on the rise in the 
district . Crop damage by wild animals 
in agricultural fields adjacent to forest 
areas is severe.

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Table 1 . 
Factors leading to Shifting of Rice Cultivation 

Sl. 
No.

Dimensions Factors Rank 

1. Technological 

i)   Competition from other crops 3

ii)  Biotic stress caused due  
     to insect, disease, nematode,  
     rodent and weeds 

2

iii) Wild animal attacks 1

iv) Unavailability of timely  
     supply of inputs 

6

v)  Lack of accessibility to  
     mechanization 

5

vi) Unscientific storage facilities 4

2. Economical i)   Less productivity 3

ii)  Low levels of profitability 2

iii) Procurement problems and  
     fluctuating prices 

1

iv) High cost of inputs 4

v)  Credit problems 5 
3. Social / ecological i)   Seasonal shortage in labour  

     supply 
1 

ii)  Forced to convert land for  
    building purpose 

3

iii) Less support from family  
     members 

4

iv) Uneven rainfall pattern and  
    climate change

2

4. Political i)  Changing Governments and    
    policies 

2 

ii)  Labour problems 1

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 This is primarily due to the straying 
of wild animals such as wild boar, Asian 
elephant, Indian porcupine and deer 
from the forest to the homesteads and 
plantations. Consequent to this, conflict 
between wild animals and farmers in the 
fringe areas of the forests and protected 
areas are rising. This might have 
influenced the farmers to convert paddy 
lands to rubber plantations. 

 Rice being the staple food crop 
of Keralites and as Kerala‘s population 
continues to grow steadily, demand for 
rice is also growing. The challenge before 
the  Government for the next few years 
will be to feed the escalating population, 
keeping the prices low to benefit poor 
consumers and reducing production 
costs to benefit poor growers. 

 The gap between demand and 
supply of rice which was around fifty 
percent till the mid-seventies is widening 
every year as the area under rice declined 
at a very fast rate due to large scale 
conversion of paddy lands for raising 
other cash crops such as coconut, rubber, 
banana, etc. or for residential purposes. 
With the gap between production and 
requirement of food grain widening every 
year, Kerala’s food scene is showing a 
blurred picture. As a wakeup call much of 
the additional food demand in the future 
will have to be met through productivity 
enhancement. The current productivity 

of 2.8t/ha must be improved. The study 
has revealed that labour shortage is one 
of the major problems in rice cultivation. 
Mechanization of agriculture operation 
may help to increase rice cultivation and 
curb the problems of labour shortage. 
Many had felt that the increase in the 
frequency of droughts and floods and also 
an increase in temperatures is likely to  
to have a negative impact on rice yields. 
Developing  and promoting the spread 
of rice varieties that are less sensitive 
to such climatic changes is the one of 
the options for thriving such situations. 
Greater investment in research and 
extension is inevitable to meet these 
challenges. 

REFERENCES

Directorate of Economics and 
Statistics, Kerala. (2015). Retrieved 
from http://www.ecostat.kerala.
g o v . i n / i n d e x . p h p / c o m p o n e n t /
s e a r c h / r i c e % 2 0 p r o d u c t i o n .
html?ordering=&searchphrase=all

GoK [Government of Kerala]. (2017). Farm 
Guide. Farm Information Bureau, 
Thiruvananthapuram, 320p.

Thomas, J. J. (2011). Paddy cultivation in 
Kerala. Electronic Journal of Agriculture 
Studies 2(1). Retrieved from http://
www.ras.org.in/paddy cultivation in 
kerala/content/ vol.2/issue 1/index.
html. 

Scenario Analysis of Rice Cultivation in Kerala

http://www.ecostat.kerala.gov.in/index.php/component/search/rice%20production.html?ordering=&searchphrase=all
http://www.ecostat.kerala.gov.in/index.php/component/search/rice%20production.html?ordering=&searchphrase=all
http://www.ecostat.kerala.gov.in/index.php/component/search/rice%20production.html?ordering=&searchphrase=all
http://www.ecostat.kerala.gov.in/index.php/component/search/rice%20production.html?ordering=&searchphrase=all