Prasad, a seasoned paddy farmer from Edathua in Kuttanad, used to grow rice twice a year until recently. The veteran farmer did away with the practice last year when he skipped farming rice in the additional (second) crop season after suffering climate change-induced crop losses in the previous three years.
"I suffered huge losses in three second crop seasons in a row between 2018 and 2020 after heavy downpours and floods washed away the crops in my three-acre field in its entirety. Last year, after giving a miss to the second crop, I cultivated paddy only in puncha (first) crop season. As it neared harvest, puncha crop was affected by summer rains in April this year. Considering the vagaries of climate, I decided against paddy farming in the additional season this year too. A decision on the next puncha crop depends on the weather in the coming months," says Mr. Prasad.
As climate change accelerates, paddy cultivation in the additional crop season has been witnessing a steady decline in Kuttanad and other parts of Alappuzha, a major rice-producing district in the State, since 2018. The area under paddy cultivation in the ongoing season fell by around 50% to 7,713 hectares, compared to 14,861 hectares four years ago. In 2021, paddy was grown on 8,357 hectares in the additional season.
"The sowing is continuing in some parts and we expect the total area under paddy cultivation in the current season to reach around 8,000 hectares. That said, the year-wise stats reveal that farming in the additional season in Alappuzha is on the decline. With recurring floods and extreme rainfalls causing huge losses, many farmers and padasekhara samithis have started to give paddy farming a miss, especially in the additional season," says an Agriculture department official.
At present, farmers produce two crops per year, with sowing for puncha season (the season witnesses the largest acreage of paddy cultivation in the district) taking place between October and November and additional season between May and June. While climate change has been attributed as the main cause for a decline in paddy acreage, farmers in Kuttanad also lay the blame on the lackadaisical attitude of the government in providing assistance to strengthen outer bunds of paddy polders, ingress of saltwater, inordinate delay in disbursing crop loss aid, poor quality seeds, and so on for losing their interest in rice cultivation.
"A host of issues from climate change to the intrusion of salt water through Thanneermukkkom bund and Thottappally spillway are driving farmers away from paddy cultivation. The erratic rainfall has derailed the sowing and harvest of puncha and additional crop seasons. Paddy farming is going through uncertain times. Government should take measures to instill confidence in farmers. We should be able to follow the crop calendar in order to be sustainable in the face of climatic variations," says K.G. Padmakumar, director, International Research and Training Centre for Below Sea Level Farming, Kuttanad.
Unlike additional season, paddy acreage in puncha season has not declined in recent years. However, the yield in the recently concluded puncha season fell by around 25,000 tonnes as compared to the previous season after torrential downpours destroyed harvest-ready crops in large tracts.
