THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Feb 26 – Green-rich paddy fields, once part of the culture and identity of south Indian state of Kerala, is on the verge of disappearance, thanks to the indiscriminate construction boom and frequent crop losses. According to some recent reports, there were 347,455 hectares of paddy fields in 2000-01 period and it had shrunk to 208,160 hectares in 2011.
A total of 139,295 hectares of paddy fields have been disappeared in the last decade. If the shrinking of fields continues like this, paddy fields will be slipped into oblivion forever from the state in the next 15 years, it said.
With the land price soaring, many farmers are selling their fields to realtors for building shopping complexes and flats. High labour cost, shortage of farm labourers and frequent crop losses are the other factors distancing farmers from paddy cultivation.
Though rice is the staple food of people of Kerala, the total production of of the crop has decreased to 568,993 tonnes in 2011 in the state from 751,326 tonnes in 2001, figures said.
BERNAMA
