economics of on-farm development - Institute for Social and ...

unremunerative prices <strong>of</strong> paddy and high cost <strong>of</strong> cultivation <strong>of</strong> paddy coupled
with shortage <strong>of</strong> labour in peak season, in spite <strong>of</strong> high wage rates. As a result,
there has been remarkable decline in area under paddy. This is also due to
farmers' interest in pursuing paddy cultivation even with institutional incentives
for augmenting paddy production. Subsequently, the institutional intervention in
<strong>of</strong> terms encouraging and rromoting group farming and other programmes for
augmenting paddy production in the state have become ineffective.
The failure <strong>of</strong> Group Farming in Kerala
It is important to note that the government <strong>of</strong> Kerala has been giving importance
to rice cultivation ever since Independence. Apart from massive public
investment programme for irrigation development, particularly to increase paddy
production for increasing paddy production, the successive governments have
appointed eight committees lJ to study the problems <strong>of</strong> paddy cultivation in the
state.
The Group Farming (GF) was an important institutional intervention by
the government in Kerala to ensure paddy cultivation as a viable farming activity
and to arrest or reduce the process <strong>of</strong> conversion by way <strong>of</strong> arresting the process
IJ The important committees are: (i) Kuttanadu Enquiry Commission (1971); (ii)
A.K.K. Nambiar Commission (1978); (iii) Janardanan Nair Commission on the
problems <strong>of</strong> paddy cultivation in Kerala (1981); (iv) Dr. R. Gopalakrishnan
Commission Committee (1983); (v) Technical Report <strong>of</strong> the State Planning Board
(1986); (vi) S. Gopalan Committee (1986); (vii) Minnie Mathew Committee (1996)
and (viii) Dr. Shhyamasundaran Nair Committee (1997). For a detailed review <strong>of</strong> these
committees and their recommendations, see, Suresh 2000: 44-46.
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