8 AGRICULTURE, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY & FISHERIES
8.1 8.2 8.3 Agriculture Animal Husbandry Fisheries
AGRICULTURE, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY & FISHERIES 8.1 Agriculture A gricultural land covers nearly 64.97% of land in the town. The major crop, coconut, is cultivated in 650 Ha. Rubber, cultivated in 350 Ha, is second in coverage. Paddy is being cultivated in 130 ha only, even though the municipality has 352 Ha. of paddy land. Table 8.1 gives major crops, area under cultivation and productivity. Table 8.1 Major Crops, area and productivity (Source: Agricultural Department) Sl. No Type of crops Area (Ha.) Production/yr 1 Coconut 650 227500 Nos. 2 Areacanut 100 75 T 3 Banana 175 4262.5 T 4 Paddy 130 252 T 5 Vegetables 25 386 T 6 Tapioca 200 5000 T 7 Pepper 25 2875 Kg. 8 Cashew 40 39.2 T 9 Fruits 190 3800 T 10 Rubber 350 11 Pulses 10 12 Tubers 100 13 Turmeric 5 37.5 T 14 Ginger 5 45 T 75 T Table 8.2 Agricultural inputs available in the town (Source: Agricultural Department) Sl. No Facility No. 1 Fertilizer shop 4 2 Combined Harvester 2 3 Tractor 2 4 Power tiller 1 5 Thresher 5 6 Pump sets 640 TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING DEPARTMENT, KERALA 8.1.1 Spatial Distribution The spatial distribution of agricultural land in the town is given in Figure 8.1. From the figure, it is evident that the agricultural activity is spread over the entire municipality except for a lower density in the core area. Paddy fields constitutes 10.38 % of the municipal area. In many places, the residential land use has encroached upon paddy fields to a large extent. The spatial distribution of the existing paddy is given in Figure 8.2. The dry cultivation (mixed crop, rubber, coconut etc) constitutes 54.59% of the municipal area. The spatial distribution of dry cultivation area is given in Figure 8.3. 8.1.2 Agricultural Inputs and Marketing Facilities Out of the various agricultural inputs, fertilizer shops are available in the town. The nearest seed farm is at Anakkayam, at a distance of 20 km. Agricultural machinery and implements are also available in the town. There are number of nationalized banks offering credit facilities for agricultural purposes in the town besides two cooperative banks. There is no organized market for agricultural produces in the town besides the municipal daily market. Table 8.2 gives agricultural inputs available in the town.
Figure 8.1 Spatial distribution of Agricultural land use PERINTHALMANNA MASTER PLAN 2033
Figure 8.2 Spatial distribution of Paddy area The area under paddy cultivation in the Municipality is diminishing at a fast pace owing to many reasons of which non-profitability is said to be predominant. Increased wages of the agricultural labourers, uncertainities in production due to dependence on local climate etc. make the people reluctant to invest in paddy cultivation. Besides, once reclaimed, the paddy lands, mostly situated by the side of the major transportation corridors, fetch huge values, encouraging the landowners for conversion. This results in an irreversible loss in the land under paddy cultivation. TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING DEPARTMENT, KERALA
Figure 8.3 Spatial distribution of dry cultivation The agriculture sector needs to focus more on organic farming there by reducing the usage of pesticides and fertilizers to the extent possible, however awareness about such methods among the farmers is low. Training facilities need to be established in order to educate the farmers on various techniques of organic farming. Various methods of farming can be introduced to the young generation at a tender age itself, as part of their curricular and extracurricular activities, which would help developing a a pro-agricultural attitude in the society. PERINTHALMANNA MASTER PLAN 2033
Major problem faced by the coconut farming sector is that of the low market price of coconut. There is an acute shortage of labor force, especially coconut pluckers, in the sector. This high demand of labor force has led to disproportionate wages being claimed by the laborers. The wages has already crossed Rs. 30 per coconut tree in certain parts of the Municipality. This hurdle can be overcome to a major extent by popularising and distributing coconut climbing machines, and imparting the required training for using them. Coconut climbing machines are available in market at a cost of around Rs. 2500 per unit. These are generally manually operated machines, capable of climbing a coconut tree of 10 meters high in approximately two minutes time. 8.1.3 Cultivators and Agricultural Laborers Figure 8.4 gives the temporal variation of cultivators and agricultural labourers in the town. There is a net decrease in the number of both cultivators and agricultural labourers in the Municipality over the decades; while the cultivators and agricultural labourers decreased by more than half between 1971 and 2011, the ratio of agricultural labourers to cultivators marginally increased from 2.02 to 2.32. Figure 8.4 Temporal variation of cultivators and agricultural laborers (main workers) (Source: Census) TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING DEPARTMENT, KERALA
8 - AGRICULTURE 8.1.4 Problems and Potentials Agriculture sector, especially paddy cultivation, is steadily getting weaker in the town. The large extent of uncultivated paddy need to be put to economic use. The town has no centralized agricultural market at present. However, the town has the potential to be the major agricultural facilities provider, processing and trading centre for its vast agrarian hinterland. Value addition industries in agricultural sector can be promoted. 8.1.5 Inference 64.93 % of the land area in the town is agricultural out of which 10.13 % is paddy. Coconut is the most predominant crop followed by rubber and tapioca. The paddy fields are depleting very fast due to conversion. Dry cultivation is mostly concentrated in the peripheral areas at higher elevations. Credit facilities and other inputs for agriculture are available in the town. However the town has no agricultural market even though it is a service center for a vast agrarian hinterland. Promoting value addition industries for agricultural produces in the town like Pepper, Cashew, Ginger, Areacanut, Rubber etc can contribute to economic sustainability of the town. 8.2 Animal Husbandry 8.2.1 Livestock Population The table 8.1 below gives the live stock population in the town. Around 600 families in the Municipality are associated with this sector. 8.2.2 Production The town has a number of poultry farms. But the production is only 4000 birds per month. There is one dairy farm at Kunnappalli, with 44 cattle which produces average of 200 litre of milk per day. There are three other other dairy farms on small scale basis, having around 10 cattles each. Table 8.2 gives details of dairy outlets and collection centers. 8.2.3 Consumption The average consumption of red meat is 25800 kg per month in the town. So, the per capita consumption is not very high. The average consumption of chicken is 37500 kg per month. The consumption of milk is 99050 liters per month. 8.2.4 Physical Infrastructure The town has a veterinary poly clinic. At present, there is no healthy and hygenic slaughter facilities in the municipality. Besides, there is no centralised facility in the municipality for marketing the animal produce. Table 8.3 Live stock population (Source: Animal Husbandry Department) Sl. No. 1 2 Livestock Nos. Cow Buffalo 973 63 3 4 5 Goat Hen (domestic) Duck 1062 11466 225 6 Pig 38 7 Rabbit 80 PERINTHALMANNA MASTER PLAN 2033
Table 8.4 Dairy outlets and collection centers (Source: Local Enquiry) 8.2.5 Ongoing Projects and Schemes Various projects and schemes are currently in place to enhance the sector. The Dairy Development Department, Govt. of Kerala is currently undertaking the following major projects. 1. Scheme which gives Rs. 10 per liter of milk sold to the milk society. The amount will be directly debited to the bank account of the beneficiary. TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING DEPARTMENT, KERALA
2. Milk Shed Development Program: This scheme include the providing subsidy up to an amount of one lakh ten thousand rupees, for purchasing cows up to 5 numbers. The cows under the scheme need to be bought from outside the State. 3. Special component projects for SC/ST group, where in subsidy to the tune of Rs. 18,000 is availed for purchasing one cow and Rs. 13,000 for repairing of cattle shed. This project aims to achieve every house to have at least one cow. 4. Promotion of cattle feed grass farming through providing subsidy of Rs. 50 per cent of the area cultivated, subject to a minimum cultivated area of 20 cents. 5. Providing subsidy of Rs. 125, to buy azolla kit, costing Rs. 375 per kit, which includes tarpaulin sheet, seeds, container and fertilizers. 6. Other need based assistances, including assistance to buy milking machines, cattle shed renovation etc. 8.2.6 Problems and Potentials Majority of the population of the town being non-vegetarian, the town has a good consumer base for animal products. Even though the municipality has a significant extent of active and non-active agricultural land, the animal husbandry sector has not picked up, owing mainly to the following reasons. 1) Shrinkage in grazing land: The availability of grazing land is diminishing in a rapid pace owing to various factors including filling up of paddy land, rapid urbanization causing building footprints to cover up the green areas, population pressure prompting people to privatize vacant land etc. The reduction in availability of free grazing land force the farmers to opt for readymade cattle feed which in turn shoots up the overall cost of the operations. 2) Diseases: Various diseases are adversely affecting the sector like the Foot and Mouth Disease, a highly infectious and fatal viral disease, which is spread by infected animals through aerosols and through contact with infected farming equipments, vehicles, clothing or feed etc. 3) Shortage in labor force: The availability of skilled laborers is minimal when compared to the demand. Farmers are often forced to make use of less trained people, especially laborers from other states. 4) Lack of awareness: Although various projects and programs have been undertaken by the Govt., awareness among the farmers about such schemes is minimal. Municipality has initiated programs like Ksheera fest where in farmers, veterinary doctors and other experts from the field share their views and knowledge and the information about various aspects of the sector gets discussed in detail. Also, exhibition and sale of various farm products, value added products etc are done as part of the fest. PERINTHALMANNA MASTER PLAN 2033
8.2.7 Inference The animal husbandry sector is weak in Perinthalmanna town. However, there is a possibility for developing the sector with creation of adequate infrastructure as well as technical and organisational guidance to the farmers. The uncultivated paddy lands can be used for fodder cultivation and grazing in an organised manner, involving Self Help Groups and Milk Co-operatives. Besides, value addition of animal produce and marketing them in an organised way will ensure better income for the farmers. Modern facilities to ensure healthy and hygenic slaughtering and markerting of meat must be put in place on priority basis. Besides production of value added products like pet food shall be promoted. Facilities for proper disposal of the slaughter waste is also an important need at present. 8.3 Fisheries 8.3.1 General Perinthalmanna being a midland town, there is no significant activity in fisheries sector in the town. However the town has wholesale fish trading activity. The fish is brought from the harbours in the State, Tamilnadu and Karnataka and is sold to retail vendors within the municipality as well as the surrounding panchayats. Within the municipal market there are 17 fishmongers and 27 vendors selling dried fish. In addition to this, a number of vendors sell fish door-to-door in the residential areas. Right now, the wholesale activities (loading, unloading etc) are carried out on the road side. The municipality is cuurently constructing a modern wholesale fish market near bypass junction on the southern arm on BOT basis. TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING DEPARTMENT, KERALA
New fish market under construction Even though there is no significant fisheries activity in the municipality, the town is a wholesale fish trading center. 8.3.2 Problems and Potentials The problems associated with the wholesale trade is expected to be solved once the modern wholesale fish market under construction starts functioning. There are 46 numbers of fresh water ponds in the town. Besides, large extent of paddy is lying uncultivated in the municipality. So, there is scope for promoting fresh water fisheries including ornamental fish farming in the municipality. 8.3.3 Inference Even though there is no significant fisheries activity in the municipality, the town is a wholesale fish trading center. With number of ponds and uncultivated paddy, there is a scope for promoting fresh water fisheries in the town. PERINTHALMANNA MASTER PLAN 2033