Kerala far from ‘food security’, pulses production a concern, says book

KOCHI: At a time when the state government is harping on food security, the cropped area of all food crops, including cereals, tubers, pulses, fruits and vegetables, covers only 11.03% of the total cultivated area, according to a new report.

The production of pulses is another area of concern. The pulses production in the state actually declined to 1,922.94 tonnes in 2020-21 from 2,183 tonnes in 2019-20, wrote M M Abbas, founder trustee and general convenor of Organic Kerala Charitable Trust, in the book ‘Biodiversified and Nature-Friendly Farming Practices for the planet -- for the people - for the future’, released here last week.

Kerala requires a total of 9.5 lakh tonnes of pulses per annum, considering an adult requires 80 grams of the same per day. The article titled ‘Kerala agriculture -- the last five decades’, which Abbas co-authored with Fr Dr Prasant Palaykkappillil, CMI, said the area of cultivation of pulses (including tur) declined from 2,260 hectares in 2019-20 to 2005.95 hectares in 2020-21. 

In 1960-61, the cropped area of pulses was 44,000 hectares and the production stood at 18,000 tonnes. “Our main concern is how we can reach food security and ensure food for all when the total cropped area of all food crops is only 10-11%,” Abbas told TNIE.

“Moreover, even after implementing Kerala Conservation of Paddy and Wetland Act, there is no improvement in conservation of wetland ecosystem. We are more focused on ‘pokkali’ (unique saline-tolerant rice variety that is cultivated using extensive aquaculture in an organic way), kole wetlands of Thrissur, and ‘ezhome’ rice of Malabar,” he said.

Similarly, Kerala’s ragi cultivating area is only 230.26 hectare with a production of 329.55 tonnes, and the area of cultivation of small millet is only 51 hectares with a production of 37.70 tonnes.  While there’s the much-hyped increase in the area of paddy cultivation from 1,91,051 hectares in 2019-20 to 201,865 hectares in 2020-21, the fact remains that it constitutes only 7.86% of the total area of cultivation, he said.