Socio-cultural Processes and Livelihood Patterns at Tirurangadi - CDS

animal husbandry of this kind has received Government support from the end of the
seventies.
Another effect of the transformation of agriculture is also worth noting. We have seen
that there has been a major women’s participation in the labor process, particularly in
agriculture. With the transformation of agriculture and the introduction of technology in
sowing and harvesting resulted in the withdrawal of women from the labor process. The
figures which we quoted from 1971 Census demonstrate this process. As agricultural
fields are being transformed into coconut gardens, and other fields are lying fallow,
women do not get any work in the agricultural field at all, except in some of the low-
lying regions where paddy cultivation is still retained. Even there, they are being
gradually marginalized as devices like threshing machine have come into use. The shift
becomes very clear if we rearrange the information on women in the following manner.
Village
Table LVIII
Agriculture
&household
industry
Other industries Other services
Vallikkunnu 218 68 44
Thenhippalam 172 75 113
Ariyallur 278 18 75
Munniyur 418 6 88
Peruvallur 328 18 37
Parappanangadi 319 69 253
Nannambra 442 8 59
Tirurangadi 278 36 200
Total 2453 298 869