Row boils over Montek’s paddy advice for Kerala

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Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia’s call to Kerala to focus more attention on job-creating sectors such as tourism than on giving undue importance to preserving the dwindling paddy land, has drawn criticism from various quarters.

Besides Opposition leader V.S. Achuthanandan and Congress leader V.M. Sudheeran, some economists and entrepreneurs also disagreed with the view expressed by Ahluwalia.

“I think he has made the comment without realising the unique importance of the paddy land in the state”, C.J. George, managing director of the Geojit B.N.P. Paribas, told DC on Friday.

Paddy land in Kerala is a unique eco-system and that cannot be compared with the situation in north Indian states, George said.

If a person owning paddy land converts that particular portion of the land to some other crop, paddy cultivation in nearby fields will be impacted.

The question of food security cannot be resolved through surplus cash alone, said Dr K.N. Harilal, fellow in Centre for Development Studies (CDS) in Thiruvananthapuaram.

“It is true Kerala is not in a position to produce even 50 per cent of its food grain requirement within the state. But that doesn’t mean that we should abandon even the limited paddy land in the state”, he said.

According to Harilal, we cannot take it for granted that food grain surplus states will ensure supply to deficit states as food security has emerged as a major concern globally during the past four years.
Kerala, now producing less than 10 per cent of its food grains requirement, should strive to increase that to at least 10-15 per cent in the state itself, he said.

George and Harailal also stressed the importance of paddy land in the state in preserving and conserving the water table. Kerala has lost nearly 500,000 hectares of land under paddy during 1980-2007, according to data from the State Planning Board.

Greens seek self-reliance in farming

The suggestion by Planning Commission vice-chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia that Kerala should desist from doing paddy cultivation, and should instead depend on other states for the crop, has stirred a debate.

Environmental activists say the dependence on outside states for our rice consumption will come in the way of our self-reliance.

Kuttanad region, which used to produce surplus amount of paddy for the region, has over the years lost much of its paddy fields, with long stretches of such lands turning into marshy fields, as the cost of cultivation went up, and labo-ur was hard to come by. Also, such lands, once filled, fetched high prices as they could be used for residential and commercial purposes.

“Ahluwalia’s stand is shocking. The governme-nt should clarify whether it is the official stand,” says Father Thomas Peelianikkal, an environmental activist and executive director of the Kuttanad development committee.

“Paddy cultivation had been the mai-nstay of our farming activities. We need to carry on with this legacy,” Dr Sreekumar of Kottayam Nature Society said.