SOURCE: The Hindu
The recent spell of scorching heat will have an adverse impact on pineapple cultivation for a long time, affecting both the health of plants as well as production in the coming season, driving away hundreds of small farmers who cannot afford to continue spending money on watering the plants.
According to veteran pineapple farmer Baby John, the rising heat and predictions of continued drought-like conditions have driven away 20% to 25% of small farmers. The recent spell of scorching heat, he said, came as a surprise to farmers, who had not taken any precaution to prevent plants getting badly affected. The hottest months are usually from December-January to April, during which period farmers do not clear the fields of weeds to allow some cooling.
Water sources that usually dry up after January are already dry, preventing any effort to use them for irrigation in the immediate future.
The uneven spread of rain has seen districts south of Ernakulam receiving better rain that the northern districts. Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram and Kozhikode have received poor rainfall, forcing farmers there to make a beeline for southern districts such as Kottayam and Pathanamthitta for leasing land for fresh cultivation. It had driven the lease rate up, making pineapple cultivation altogether unaffordable for farmers, added Mr. John.
In addition to these issues, it is learnt that farmers are struggling to source quality planting materials. The situation is such that around 1,000 small farmers will leave the scene entirely, bringing down cultivation of the fruit to around 4,000 to 5,000 hectares.
The drastic fall in pineapple cultivation will in turn affect the economy as the number of man-days required for cultivation is high. It is calculated that around 100 to 125 man-days are needed a year for cultivating around an acre of pineapple.