By Thomas Kutty Abraham
May 27 (Bloomberg) -- Kurukkupotta Kandai Vasu's family has grown rice in Kerala, India , for four generations. Now, the 62- year-old farmer buys the food staple in his local store.
When the annual monsoon rains reach India
``The cost of cultivation has more than doubled, but the yield has only fallen,'' said Vasu, pointing at his barren paddy field below a green hill near Mundur, a village 2,665 kilometers (1,656 miles) from New Delhi. ``There's a shortage of rice globally, and the government is finding it difficult to supply enough rice to people at a reasonable price.''
To ensure it can feed India 's 600 million poor, the government banned rice exports April 1, contributing to a shortage on world markets that drove the price of the grain to a record last month and sparked food riots from Haiti to Egypt
``Paddy cultivation today is a complete loss for the farmers,'' said K.A. Jayachandran, 64, who advises farmers on growing and cultivation techniques at the Integrated Rural Technology Centre, a nongovernment organization. ``If the farmer doesn't make money in one season, then he's ruined.''
The area growing rice in Kerala has fallen to 276,000 hectares (682,000 acres) in 2006 from 801,700 hectares in 1980, according to the state's Planning Board. Production almost halved to 630,000 tons from 1.27 million during the same period.
Price Tripled
The price of rough rice has almost tripled in the past two years, reaching a record $25.07 a 100 pounds on April 24 on the Chicago Board of Trade. It closed at $20.35 a 100 pounds on May 23. In India
To make ends meet, Vasu and his two brothers have devoted a fifth of their 20-acre plot to vegetables to feed their family, and reckon they can double the 10,000 rupees ($234) they earned from one acre of paddy by planting natural rubber.
Rubber prices rose to a record 123 rupees a kilo in Kerala after crude oil prices more than doubled in a year, according to the government's Rubber Board. The state accounts for more than 90 percent of the natural rubber produced in India
Tropical Climate
The tropical climate in Kerala is ideal for rubber, helping growers achieve an average yield of 1,879 kilograms a hectare, the highest in the world. The area producing rubber has almost doubled to 494,400 hectares during the past 25 years, according to the Planning Board. Still, government curbs on converting paddy land for cash crops are forcing farmers to hold back.
Since 2002, the local government has required paddy farmers to obtain permission to put their farmland to other uses, though construction of houses is permitted in small plots.
The order restricting land use hasn't been effective because it isn't widely enforced, said K. Jayakumar, Kerala's agriculture production commissioner. The state plans to introduce rules that will prevent the use of wetland for purposes other than rice.
``There's a crisis, and we see an opportunity in this to address this issue to some extent,'' he said. ``The state plans to double rice production in the next two years.''
Knee-Deep in Water
The prospect of spending six months of the year knee-deep in brown paddy water for scant reward is encouraging rice farmers to abandon their land. About 2.5 million people, or a 10th of the state's population, work in the Middle East, where they help build apartments, hotels and offices.
The exodus has led to a tripling of wages for day laborers who stayed behind, and fueled a building boom on drained paddy fields as engineers, surveyors and construction workers send money back.
At least 60 percent of the land traditionally used for rice in the Palakkad district, about 110 kilometers northeast of Kochi, Kerala's largest city, has been lost to other crops and to the construction of homes, villas and shopping malls, said Jayachandran.
The share of agricultural land devoted to food crops, including rice, fell to 12.5 percent in the year ended March 31, 2006, from 37.5 percent in 1981.
``The younger generation no longer wants to dirty his feet and hands working in paddy fields,'' says Jayachandran. ``He prefers a job in a factory or a shop.''
Vasu may well be the last rice farmer in his family. His 29-year-old son, who earned a diploma in electronics engineering, works in a cement company.
Still, Vasu said he could be tempted to resume rice farming if the government increased subsidies above the 160 rupees an acre it pays, and provided cheaper fertilizer and pesticides.
``Rice is close to our heart,'' Vasu said. ``But we need to be practical.''
To contact the reporters for this story: Thomas Kutty Abraham in Mumbai at tabraham4@bloomberg.net
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