Crop Diversification and Food Security in Kerala

Abstract

The recent developments in agriculture in Kerala show crop diversification.The process of diversification is evident in different forms such as thecultivated area under food grain crops to non-food grain crops and onenon-food grain crop to another non-food grain crop. During the early 1960s,the order of the first five preferred crops were rice, coconut, tapioca, rubberand pepper, in descending order of proportion to the total cropped area.But today the preferred crops are coconut, rubber, rice, pepper andarecanut. Rubber came in the second position. Coconut, rubber and peppertogether constituted a major portion of the total cropped area. The maincrops losing area were rice and tapioca. The crop diversification indicesfor all Kerala and districts revealed less diversification in the pre-1991 periodcompared to recent years. This has created an imbalance in the croppingsystem with serious economic and environmental consequences. Reductionin rice production, decline in the availability of livestock and its products,decline in food availability, and changes in the employment pattern in
rural areas are some of the important economic consequences of cropdiversification. Food security, particularly in the case of rice, is the vitalissue for Kerala at present. This study shows that there will be an increasingdemand for rice in Kerala in the coming years. This will enlarge the supply.
demand gap of rice in Kerala in future