Stepping up food production in Kerala-Problems, Perspectives and Strategies

Abstract

A disturbing factor of the agricultural scenario in Kerala is that in spite of significant developments in agricultural technology, the productivity of rice has remained stagnant during the past over two decades. The annual rice production in the State has been stagnant, at about 1.3 million tonnes for nearly a decade' as against the present requirement of 2.8 million tonnes per year, while the population bas been growing at an annual rate of 1.79 per cent, resulting in a progressively widening gap between internal production and requirements.