EIACP PC Hub: Kerala
State of Environment and Related Issues

              According to the Department of Economics and Statistics, Cropping Intensity (CI) of the State in 2023-24 was 128.6 per cent. Coconut constituted the major share of the total cropped area with 30.2 per cent followed by rubber with 21.6 per cent. Food crops comprising of rice, pulses, tapioca, ragi, small millets, sweet potato and other tubers constituted 9.8 per cent and plantation crops such as tea, coffee, rubber and cardamom constituted 28 per cent of the total cropped area. Rice constituted 7.1 per cent of the total cropped area in 2023-24.

             Among food crops, the production of pulses, ragi, small millets and sweet potato recorded an increase in 2023-24 compared to 2022-23 by 17.3 per cent, 35.8 per cent, 56.3 per cent, and 1.4 per cent respectively, and the production of rice declined by 10.5 per cent. Among spices, pepper and cardamom reported an increase in production by 11.4 per cent and 3.2 per cent respectively. The area of coconut in 2023-24 recorded an increase of 0.7 per cent over 2022-23, and the production and productivity of coconut declined in 2023-24. The production of rubber in the State reported an increase by 1.7 per cent in 2023-24 over 2022- 23. Data regarding the area, production and productivity of principal crops grown in Kerala are shown below:

Rice:

Area, Production & Productivity 2012-23

                 The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) reported that the worldwide rice production was 530.1 million tonnes in 2023–2024. China was the top producer of rice in the world, followed by India. According to the final estimate of production of food grains, rice production in India was estimated at 1,378.3 lakh tonnes in 2023-24, with an increase of 20.7 lakh tonnes over the previous year.  

                   In 2023-24, the area under rice cultivation (wetland) in the State decreased to 1.8 lakh ha showing a decrease of 5.9 per cent compared to 2022-23. The production and productivity of wetland rice in 2023-24 was 5.3 lakh tones and 2,963 kg per ha respectively. They registered a decrease of 10.5 per cent and 4.9 per cent respectively over 2022-23.

                 Rice constituted 7.1 per cent of the total cropped area in the State in 2023-24. In the last 10 years, the highest share of area under paddy was recorded in 2020-21 i.e. 2 lakh ha with a production of 6.3 lakh tonnes. The details are given below:

                   Season-wise data of rice reveals that the area under Mundakan (winter) crop increased and that of Virippu (autumn) and Puncha (summer) crops decreased in 2023-24 over the previous year. The seasonal production and productivity recorded a decline in all the three seasons. Similar to the previous year, the Puncha season recorded the highest productivity with 3,238 kg per ha. In 2023- 24 highest productions (2.1 lakh tonnes) was in the Mundakan season. The details are given here. 

                 Mundakan crop contributed 40 per cent of the total cultivated area of paddy in 2023-24 with 28,999.9 ha of area in Palakkad District (Appendix 3.1.7). In the Virippu season, a total of 29,471.7 ha of paddy was in Palakkad District followed by Alappuzha District (6,458.1 ha). The Puncha crop was dominant in Alappuzha District (27,153 ha). The details are given here.

                Palakkad, Alappuzha, Thrissur, and Kottayam Districts accounted for about 81 per cent of the total area of rice in the State contributing to 82.5 per cent of the total rice production. Palakkad District stood first with respect to area and production of rice in the State followed by Alappuzha District. As for productivity, Alappuzha District (3,346 kg per ha) stood first followed by Malappuram District (3,231 kg per ha). In 2023- 24, the production of rice (wetland) in Alappuzha, Kozhikode, and Kannur Districts recorded an increase compared to 2022-23. The highest increase in rice (wetland) production in 2023- 24 was recorded in Alappuzha District (increase by 10,795.6 tonnes). According to the data of Department of Economics and Statistics, in 2023- 24, Palakkad District recorded the largest decline in rice production (22.1 per cent) under wetland category. The details are given here.             

 Coconut: 

Area, Production & Productivity 2013-23
 

                  According to the FAO Statistics 2022, Indonesia stands first in coconut production in the world followed by Philippines, India and Brazil. In 2023-24, the area under coconut in India was 23.3 lakh ha with a production of 22,226.3 million nuts and productivity of 9,527 nuts per ha. The area, production and productivity increased over the previous year 2022-23 at the national-level. Among the coconut growing States, the southern States of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh contributed to 90 per cent of the total area and 92 per cent of the total production.

               In 2023-24, coconut was cultivated in 7.7 lakh ha occupying 30.2 per cent of the total cropped area in the State. The area recorded an increase of 0.7 per cent over 2022-23. The production and productivity in 2023-24 decreased to 5,523 million nuts and 7,211 nuts per ha respectively. The performance of the coconut sector in the State has been fluctuating over the last five years. The details are given here:

 Pepper: 

Area, Production & Productivity 2012-23 

                 According to the estimates of the International Pepper Community, Vietnam maintained first position in pepper production and export in 2023 contributing to 35 per cent of the global pepper production. Brazil was in the second position with a 17.5 per cent share of global production. India is the third-largest producer with 16 per cent of the global pepper production share (UPASI Annual Report, 2024).

              As per the advance estimates of the Spices Board, pepper production in India in 2023-24 was at 1.3 lakh tonnes, with an increase of 8,860 tonnes compared to 2022-23. The area under pepper cultivation also expanded to 3,13,632 ha in 2023- 24, marking an increase from 2,99,053 ha in 2022- 23. Karnataka stood first in terms of area (2,22,394 ha) and production (89,000 tonnes) of pepper in the country in 2023-24.

            According to the Department of Economics and Statistics, GoK, the production of pepper in the State increased by 3,144.4 tonnes to 30,798.2 tonnes with an area of 72,669.3 ha in 2023-24.Area, Production, Productivity of principal crops are shown below: 

               The area of pepper in the State recorded a decline in 2023-24 compared to 2022-23 by 1.4 per cent. The productivity of pepper increased by 13 per cent from 375 kg per ha in 2022-23 to 423.8 kg per ha in 2023-24.

Cashew: 

Area, Production & Productivity 2012-23
       

                 According to FAO Statistics 2022, Cote d’ Ivoire retained its first position in cashew nut production in the world followed by India. According to the estimates by Directorate of Cashewnut and Cocoa Development, the national production of raw cashew nuts in 2023-24 was 8 lakh tonnes. There was an increase of 1.7 per cent in the production of raw cashew nut over 2022-23. The area under cashew also recorded an increase to 11.99 lakh ha in 2023-24 from 11.92 lakh ha in 2022-23.

Plantation Crops:

                 Kerala has a substantial share in the four plantation crops of rubber, tea, coffee and cardamom. These four crops together occupied 7.11 lakh ha, accounting for 27.7 per cent of the total cropped area in the State. Kerala’s share in the national production of rubber is 72.6 per cent. The percentage share in cardamom, coffee and tea were 91.3 per cent, 20.5 per cent and 5.2 per cent respectively in the year 2020-21. The details are given here. 

                  In view of the potential for export, employment generation and poverty alleviation, plantation crops play a vital role in the national and State economy. Kerala has a substantial share in the four plantation crops viz. rubber, tea, coffee and cardamom. These four crops together occupied 7.11 lakh ha, accounting to 28.2 per cent of the total cropped area in the State and the details are given here.  

                 Kerala’s share in the national production of rubber is 72 per cent while that of cardamom, coffee and tea were 91 per cent, 20.4 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively in 2021-22. Considering the significant role of plantation crops in the economy, focus on initiatives to improve processing and value addition of produces of plantation crops in addition to expanding, replanting and productivity, can enhance the revenue flow from plantations.

             In view of the potential for export, employment generation and poverty alleviation, plantation crops play a vital role in the National and State economy. Kerala has a substantial share in the four plantation crops viz. rubber, tea, coffee and cardamom. These four crops together occupied 7.12 lakh ha, accounting to 28.3 per cent of the total cropped area in the State. Kerala’s share in the national production of rubber is 71.4 per cent. The percentage share of cardamom, coffee and tea were 90.6 per cent, 20.6 per cent and 4.8 per cent respectively in 2022-23. The details are given below:

                  Kerala has a substantial share of the four plantation crops: rubber, tea, coffee and cardamom. These four crops together occupied 7.1 lakh ha, accounting for 28 per cent of the total cropped area in the State. The corresponding estimates of production and yield of these four crops are shown below:

Rubber:

Area, Production & Productivity 2013-23

                 According to the International Rubber Study Group (IRSG), the world Natural Rubber (NR) production decreased in 2023 by 3.6 per cent compared to the previous year (Indian Rubber Statistics, 2024).

                 According to the provisional data from the Rubber Board, in 2023-24, the rubber production in the State increased by 1.7 per cent to 6.1 lakh tonnes compared to 2022- 23. However, there was a marginal decline in area under rubber by 1,480 ha to 5.5 lakh ha in 2023-24. The productivity of rubber marginally increased from 1,570 kg per ha to 1,573 kg per ha.

              In 2023, domestic consumption of Natural Rubber increased by 0.7 lakh tonnes and reached 14.2 lakh tonnes. The import of Natural Rubber in 2023-24, declined to 4.9 lakh tonnes compared to 5.3 lakh tonnes in 2022-23. India imported a total of 8.5 lakh tonnes rubber including 3.5 lakh tonnes synthetic rubber.