07.03.2014 Views

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

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

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

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

physiographic c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the State l8 , high intensity <strong>and</strong> uneven distributi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />

rainfall. The rainwater collected in the rivers gets drained out to the sea within 24<br />

hours due to the steep slope <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Western Ghats as well as the smaller courses<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> river in terms <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> width. Moreover. the rivers due to their smaller cross-secti<strong>on</strong>.<br />

cannot accommodate the entire rainwater. These physiographic limitati<strong>on</strong>s <strong>on</strong> the<br />

<strong>on</strong>e h<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> the abundance as well as the seas<strong>on</strong>al c<strong>on</strong>centrati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> rainfall <strong>on</strong><br />

the other are the <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>t-cited justificati<strong>on</strong>s by the planners <strong>for</strong> a high-cost <strong>and</strong><br />

capital-intensive irrigati<strong>on</strong> infrastructure <strong>development</strong> strategy <strong>for</strong> the state.<br />

Investment <strong>on</strong> infrastructure <strong>development</strong> in terms <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> large-scale canal-based<br />

irrigati<strong>on</strong> systems in the state is also justified <strong>on</strong> grounds <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> food security. Kerala<br />

has been a food- deficit state <strong>and</strong> the per capita food grain producti<strong>on</strong> is <strong>on</strong>e <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />

the lowest in the country. It was <strong>on</strong>ly 38.38 kg. per annum against the nati<strong>on</strong>al<br />

average <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> 175.20 kg. in 1987-88. The annual per-capita producti<strong>on</strong> has further<br />

fallen to 37.34 kg in 1990-91 (GOK. 1993). This works out to a per capita daily<br />

availability <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong>ly 102.30 gm. which is Jess than the c<strong>on</strong>sumpti<strong>on</strong> norm <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> 370<br />

gm per capita per day. as suggested by the Indian Council <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Medical Research<br />

(lCMR) (Suryanarayana, 1999: 328). In 1990, while the producti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> rice in the<br />

state was 10.87 lakh t<strong>on</strong>nes, the <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>f-take through PDS was 14.60 lakh t<strong>on</strong>nes <strong>and</strong><br />

the food deficit was about 26 per cent. The deficit has increased further to 39 per<br />

18 Based <strong>on</strong> the physiographic features, the geographical area <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Kerala is divided into<br />

five topographic z<strong>on</strong>es, viz., a) Mountain Peak Area, b) High L<strong>and</strong>s. c) the Mid L<strong>and</strong>s.<br />

d) the Low L<strong>and</strong>s, <strong>and</strong> e) the Coastal Plains <strong>and</strong> lago<strong>on</strong>s. However. the 1110st comm<strong>on</strong>ly<br />

used classificati<strong>on</strong> is in terms <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> lowl<strong>and</strong>. midl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> highl<strong>and</strong>. Highl<strong>and</strong>s account <strong>for</strong><br />

the highest proporti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the geographical area in Kerala. which accounts <strong>for</strong> 48 per<br />

cent. followed by midl<strong>and</strong> (42 %) <strong>and</strong> low l<strong>and</strong> (10 %).<br />

28

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!