Reforms open Dakshina Kannada doors to Kerala land buyers

MANGALURU: The amendments to the Land Reforms Act, which liberalise land ownership in Karnataka, has come as a blessing in disguise for many Keralites. Since many years now, there has been a steady rise in the number of people from Kerala purchasing land in the border district of Dakshina Kannada and an upward trend is expected in the coming days. 

What draws Keralites to Dakshina Kannada is the fact that land is cheaper compared to their native state where it is quite high because of the huge foreign remittances. In the interiors of Kadaba, Belthangady, Bantwal and Puttur taluks, an acre of land costs about `8 lakh and many say if a Keralite sells 10 cents of land in his home state, he can buy an acre in Dakshina Kannada with the same money.

A majority of Keralites who buy land here convert it into rubber plantations, while there are also people who take up arecanut, coconut, banana plantations. Govinda Bhat, a progressive farmer from Manila in Bantwal taluk, which is close to the Kerala border, says the Keralites purchasing land in the district started about four decades ago when they first set up rubber plantations in Sullia taluk.

“Kochi Christians are experts in rubber cultivation and are hard working. That is how they are able to get good returns out of the barren land. Initially, they came to Sullia and now they have spread to other taluks like Belthangady, Puttur, Bantwal and Kadaba,” Bhat said. 

Bhat feels that Keralites’ hold on agricultural land in Dakshina Kannada will increase in all likelihood as the locals are increasingly turning away from agriculture since they find it not so profitable. Over 60 per cent of landholders in the district are small farmers. A farmer having two acres of areca plantation can earn just Rs 60,000 a year now when arecanut prices have soared to Rs 350-400 per kg.

Ismail Nelyadi, an advocate, said besides cheap land, restrictions on land holdings and tough labour laws in Kerala are driving Keralites to Karnataka. “With the restrictions on land holding removed in Karnataka now, we are expecting more purchase of land by them,” he said.

Rashid Vittla, a social worker, feels that Keralites buying land has helped the locals in a way. “Most of the land they buy are the ones which are left barren. After buying, they turn them into plantations which will at least provide jobs to locals,” he pointed out.