Socio-cultural Processes and Livelihood Patterns at Tirurangadi - CDS

Munniyur 645 1881 2526 438 761 1199 -32.09 -59.54
Parappanangadi 291 1232 1523 252 785 1037 --13.60 -32.28
Nannambra 732 1636 2368 269 428 697 -63.25 --73.84
Tirurangadi 529 1557 2086 270 390 660 -37.81 -74.45
Total 3539 9873 13412 1986 3993 8963 -43.88 -59.56
Source: Census of 1981 and 2001
The above figures show an absolute decline in the number of cultivators and laborers in
the area, but the figures will have to be checked with the pattern of land use which we
have seen in the case of Tirurangadi Panchayat. The land use data showed that although
the area under paddy cultivation has declined, the total cultivated or in a sense, cultivable
area has declined only marginally. This means that cultivation has either shifted to garden
crops, as shown by the lands under coconut or areca nut, or the lands are being purchased
by all kinds of speculators or house-site owners, who are trying to develop the land
according to the latest trends in the market, including building construction. A large area
has become what geographers call built land (92.91 acres in the case of Tirurangadi
Panchayat) thus going out of cultivation. Moreover, the changes in the collection of
census figures will also have to be considered, by which coconut farmers were excluded
from the category of farmers from1981. This led to an absolute decline in the number of
cultivators in all the Panchayats between 1971 and 1981, and it is possible that the
decline in the number of cultivators in the present figures might in fact signify a shift to
coconut, areca nut, and banana and so on. What is interesting is the decline in the number
of main agricultural workers, which is substantial in the paddy regions of Tirurangadi and
Nannambra, which shows an absolute decline in the days of work and subsequent
marginalization. The evidence shows that the number of marginal workers has increased
everywhere, as shown by the following information
Table LXXIII