STUDY OF THE LANDUSE CHANGES AND ITS IMPACT ON AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN KUMARAKOM PANCHAYAT OF KUTTANAD REGION

Funding Agency: Natural Resources Data Management System, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.

In Kerala, it is startling to find that from over 8.50 lakhs hectares under rice cultivation in 1970s, the area has drastically declined to about 4.30 lakh hectares. The worst hit have been the marginal and small landed farmers. The present project had envisaged to carry out an assessment of the extent of land use changes and its impact on agricultural production in Kumarakom Panchayat, one of the highly affected panchayats in Kuttanad region. The major objective of the project was to assess the extent of landuse changes in Kumarakom Panchayat over years and to study the impact on agricultural production of the Panchayat.

A base map of the Kumarakom panchayat was prepared and survey number wise landuse during 1936 and 1988 ware identified using Basic Tax Register and the land use for 1990 was prepared. The landuse maps for different time periods were analysed using the GIS Software and the changes occurred during different time periods were identified. A comparison of landuse of 1936 with 1997 shows that about 35% of the paddy fields existed during 1936 has been converted to other purpose. This has affected the agricultural sector, especially paddy cultivation badly. The large amount of conversion of paddy lands has also created a number of ecological and environmental problems mainly related with hydrology, loss of Biodiversity etc. The western side of Kumarakom, which was once full of mangrove species, is now facing serious threat due to the conversion of mangrove areas for other purpose. An action plan for conservation and eco-development of the area has been formulated.