Socio-cultural Processes and Livelihood Patterns at Tirurangadi - CDS

Perunthodu have suffered the same fate. Kundanthodu in Vallikkunnu was reconstructed,
through a mass popular effort during the People’s Planning campaign.
Efforts at containing water-logging do not imply that there is expansion of grain
production in the low-lying regions. What we saw was to the contrary. Large areas of the
grain fields have already been converted into coconut gardens, and in some places
plantains are grown. Some of the areas were left fallow. Kizhakkeppatam in Munniyur
that can be seen from the National Highway is a major illustration of this transformation.
The smaller fields, not susceptible to water-logging were the first to be converted in this
way. The normal process of conversion was apparently as follows. The loose muddy soil,
often mixed with sand was dug up from the bed of the grain field and small mounds were
created, and coconut seeds were planted on the mound. Such converted lands were
actually seen in Kuriyappatam in Vallikkunnu Panchayat, Kottanthalappatam in
Parappanangadi Panchayat, Vatakkeppatam and Thekkeppatam in Munniyur Panchayat,
Vaikkathupatam bordering on Munniyur and Peruvallur Panchayats and so on. Large
areas in Munniyur patam (called Munniyur chali) have been converted into coconut
plantations. The most interesting case of such conversions is the area called
nedunparambu, on the way from Parakkadavu to Chuzhali, a large area coming to more
than hundred acres, where conversions of grain fields have been going on for several
decades, which cannot be distinguished from normal parambas except to a trained eye.
The soil of the paramba is clearly that of a patam and it was a part of the field called
mullankuzhipatam a generation back. The area near Nannambra temple, between
Theyyala and Pandimuttam has been converted in to paramba, with no trace of a patam
remaining, except in isolated patches. Kizhakke patam in between Muttichira and