WAYANAD/IDUKKI: All climate models predict extreme weather conditions in this part of the Wayanad-Idukki region in Kerala: more drought, heavy rainfall and storms with a direct impact on agriculture and food security. But that future is already here. It can be seen from elderly Karimpan’s hut in Alathur. The tribal farmer points his walking stick towards the edge of the forest in the distance. In the foggy days of the past, it could not be seen.
Today in the evening, there is no trace of a mist and no nip in the air. Alathur is a tribal hamlet in Muthanga with a beautiful backdrop of paddy fields, tall coconut palms and traditional forest dwellings in the seeable distance. This is where Karimpan belonging to the Kurumar sect and his family reside.
It’s a busy day for him, his children and grandchildren as they bring home the harvest. Again this year, it’s been poor. “Paddy needs good and timely rains. It was erratic throughout the season,” he explains. “There was a time when I used to go early in the morning and complete the day’s harvest around noon. The cold would set in at four in the afternoon and we would sit around a fire.”
Karimpan has decided not to cultivate until conditions improve. In Koviloor, Krishnadas is busy talking to the few tourists who have come to buy winter vegetables grown organically on his terrace farm, which he runs with his cousin Shanthappan. Surrounded by grassy hillsides and trickling streams, his farm grows cabbage, beetroot, carrot, green peas, and fruits like strawberry.
Shanthappan now has to irrigate the plants with water pumped from a nearby stream. Changing climate conditions have already hit vegetable and fruit production in the entire region. “We used to have three harvests during the season. But it is becoming impossible,” Shanthappan says.