Causes and consequences of change in cropping pattern – A location-specific study
The
agricultural sector of Kerala has undergone wide-ranging changes in terms of
ownership of land, cropping pattern, cultivation practices, technology and
intensity of cultivation during the past three decades. This study purports to
examine the changes, unravel the underlying factors and discuss their impact on
the rural population. The approach of studies on agricultural changes has been,
till very recently, to capture ‘physical reality’ and ‘objectivity’.
Realisation has lately come to researchers that ‘personal’ or
‘subjective’ reality is also significant. The perception of the rural people
on whom agricultural changes directly impinge is therefore the focus of the
present exercise. The study is carried out in Pallichal panchayat, a suburb of
Thiruvananthapuram City.
Two
approaches are used in the study; (i) a statistical method to assess the
existing socio-economic condition of the people in the study area, and (ii) a
participatory learning method implemented by a multi-disciplinary team with the
participation of local people.
The
main objectives of the study are (i) to identify the factors for the changes in
cropping pattern and farm practices, (ii) to assess the socio-economic impact of
the change in cropping pattern and (iii) to study the inter-relationship between
depletion of natural resources and living conditions of the communities
depending on them.
The
study points out that change in cropping pattern cannot be analysed in isolation
from changes taking place in the farming system determined by factors such as
land ownership, access to resources, labour relations, livelihood strategies,
farming practices, traditions and culture. The main causes of the changes may be
grouped into (i) population growth and change in family structure, (ii) state
intervention through land reforms, acquisition of land, deforestation, public
distribution system etc. (iii) modernisation and commercialisation of
agriculture, (iv) labour market conditions, and (v) price factors. The impacts
of changes are (i) economic (changes in production, farm income, employment,
women’s participation etc.); (ii) social and cultural (cultivator-labour
relation, negative attitude to agriculture, loss of traditional skills, etc.)
and (iii) environmental (loss of local varieties of seeds and breeds, and trees,
receding water tables, decrease in biodiversity, etc.)
*
R. Mahesh is an independent
researcher based in Thiruvananthapuram.