KOCHI: The draft plantation policy, approved by the state cabinet last week, allowing inter-cropping and multi-cropping, besides permitting tourism projects in plantation land, will not unlock the full potential of the sector unless the Kerala Land Reforms (Amendment) Act is amended, according to experts.
"Under the existing rules, a planter is prohibited from farming crops like vegetables or fruits in over 15 acres of land. Further, inter-cropping can’t be done in a rubber plantation as most vegetables and fruits won’t grow under the shade," said Joshy Joseph Manniparambil, a Kanjirappally-based planter, who has plantations in neighbouring states.
The historical Kerala Land Reforms Act enacted by the EMS Namboodiripad government in 1963 and Kerala Land Reforms (Amendment) Act, 1969, imposed a 15-acre ceiling on ownership of agriculture land.
However, it had exempted the plantation sector on the grounds that they were cash crops coming under the Central government’s commerce ministry and it involves more capital and high volume of labour. "In Tamil Nadu, there is no restriction of land area for cultivating other crops, except for coconut, where too the limit is 50 acres," Manniparambil said.
According to the Economic Survey, Kerala has a substantial share in the four plantation crops of rubber, tea, coffee and cardamom. These four crops together occupy 7.12 lakh ha, accounting for 27.5 per cent of the total cropped area in the state. Kerala’s share in the national production of rubber was 74.9 per cent, cardamom 89.7 per cent, coffee 21.87 per cent and tea 4.35 per cent in 2019-20.
Rubber occupies the second largest area in the state, next to coconut with 21.3 per cent of the gross cropped area. In Kerala, the area under rubber decreased by 170 ha in 2019- 20.The previous Oommen Chandy-led UDF government had allowed the plantation sector to utilise 5 per cent of the land for non-plantation purposes.
The draft plantation policy approved by the cabinet on Thursday allowed vegetable cultivation, dairy farming, bee-keeping and tourism-related projects in the plantations. The new policy also gave its nod to reopen plantations which have been remaining shut for long.
"This is a policy announcement in the right direction. Tourism in plantation has big potential and it remains untapped. For instance, many plantations in Kerala has European-style buildings that can be utilised for tourism projects," said Ajit BK, secretary, Association of Planters of Kerala (APK).
He reckoned the policy announcements are just a first step and more curbs need to be removed for the full realisation of the plantation sector's potential. According to the Economic Survey, the global backlash against globalisation and the subsequent erection of higher tariff barriers led to a decline in the export of plantation-related products of Kerala.
Kerala's Cash crop cultivation
Area under rubber, tea, coffee and cardamom: 7.12 lakh ha or 27.5 per cent of total cropped area
Kerala's share in national production (2019-2020)
Rubber: 74.9 per cent
Cardamom: 89.7 per cent
Coffee: 21.87 per cent
Tea: 4.35 per cent