Experts bat for crop calendar in Kuttanad

Alternative farming techniques to cope with changing climate conditions highlighted

With recurring natural disasters causing enormous losses to the agriculture sector and forcing several farmers in Kuttanad to abandon farming, experts have called for strict adherence to the crop calendar and adopting alternative farming techniques to cope with changing climate conditions. K.G. Padmakumar, Director, International Research and Training Centre for Below Sea level Farming, Thottapally, says there is a need for serious thinking on the way forward for agriculture in Kuttanad. “As entrusted by the State government, we prepared a crop calendar for Kuttanad and the same was accepted and released by the Chief Minister last year. Kuttanad consists of six zones and they are all highly heterogeneous. People practice different farming patterns in these zones. The crop calendar was prepared after considering all the factors. But the government is yet to take meaningful steps to implement it,” he says. A resident of Kuttanad, he says recurring floods have dashed hopes of the people of the region and many are contemplating leaving the place altogether. “Farmers feel they can’t go on like this. They have realised the importance of following the crop calendar. Various departments and agencies need to work together to implement the calendar by providing farmers seeds on time, construct/repair bunds, dewatering, among other things,” he says, adding implementation of the calendar will help standardise the operation of the Thanneermukkom barrage to a certain extent.