KOCHI: In a move to bring large tracts of unused land under farming, the state government is set to introduce a bill to give legal sanctity to tenant farming. The move will also help cultivators access bank credit, crop insurance and other benefits.
Currently, the state has a total of 1,03,334 hectares of fallow land, of which 49,420 ha is permanently fallow. The remaining 53,914 ha has been classified under ‘current fallow’, or lying unused in recent times.
In Kerala, 35% of horticulture and vegetable production is through tenant farming, though such practices violate the provisions of Kerala Land Reforms Act (KLRA). “Such farming is done through simple 11-month contracts,” said Dr B Ashok, principal secretary, Department of Agriculture. “By legalising these 11-month contracts, tenant farmers will be able to access bank loans,” he told TNIE, adding that the government move follows a request from the banking industry. The bill is likely to be introduced in the next session of the assembly.
Ashok said Andhra Pradesh had passed a ‘tenant farmers bill’ a few years back, and Kerala is following a similar model. Under the Andhra Pradesh Crop Cultivator Rights Bill passed in July 2019, tenant farmers were given all benefits, including bank loans, crop insurance, and ‘Rythu Bharosa’, a scheme that provides financial assistance of `13,500 per farmer family a year.
According to officials, apart from individuals, tenant farming is being taken up by joint liability groups and Kudumbashree. “Here, a person gives his/her land for farming as it’s unused. However, there’s no official sanctity to it. The new bill gives legal cover and will free up large tracts of land for farming,” said the official.
Large tracts of land ideal for farming are lying fallow or under-utilised due to resource scarcity, labour shortage, lack of interest in cultivation due to low returns or inability of owners to manage daily farm activities, particularly if they are aged, NRIs or employed elsewhere. Cultivable land is also available with various government departments and public sector undertakings.
On the other hand, there are farmer producer organisations, krishikoottams, Kudumbashree units, self-help groups and startups who seek land for agriculture activities, especially for hi-tech and scientific cultivation.
‘Need to monitor use of chemical fertilisers’
Dr P Indira Devi, emeritus professor at Kerala Agricultural University, has been advocating tenant farming for long.
“The Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963, has rendered tenancy legally invalid in the state and prohibited future tenancy as well. But the changes in social structure has resulted in the emergence of land owners who consider land only as an asset and not as a productive base — they are a group who are either too busy to farm (as their main source of income is from non-farm activities) or too poor to farm (as they do not have the capital to invest).
This further ushered a way for the system of tenancy in which a landowner who does not cultivate land, leases it out for cultivation against a payment of rent,” according to a paper she co-authored with her colleague Judy Thomas.
However, she adds a note of caution on possible environmental degradation of the land under tenant farming due to widespread use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides as cultivators look to reap maximum profits in one to two years.
“We need to strictly monitor the tenant farming or add a clause in the bill to ensure that the cultivators do not put excess fertilisers and pesticides to reap maximum returns,” Indira Devi told TNIE.
35% of Kerala’s horticulture and vegetable produce via tenant farming
1,03,334 ha
Total fallow land in Kerala
49.420 ha
Permanently fallow
53,914 ha
Current fallow