CHAPTER IV ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF THE PLANTATION SECTOR IN KERALA CHAPTER IV ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF THE PLANTATION SECTOR IN KERALA With nearly half the plantation area in the country and a major interest in all the four crops-tea, coffee, rubber and cardamom-Kerala is undoubtedly India's most important plantation state.' These plantations ensure a better return to growers, higher revenue to the Govenunent, improved income to workers and above all the overall development of the Kerala economy. Arnong the various categories under the non-food grain sector, plantation crops have recorded the maximum growth in area during the period 1976-'77 to 1995-'96 as revealed by the enormous increase in their area index from 95.04 to 181.26.' Plantations are ago-industrial undertakings regularly employing a large number of workers and are mainly concerned with production for comnercial purposes. With one third of Kerala's State Domestic Product (SDP) coming from the agricultural sector, the role of plantation crops in its ;rgricultural economy may be viewed in ternls of (i) share in cultivated area; (ii) contribution to state agricultural income; (iii) share of foreign exchange earnings; (iv) contribution to the state's tax revenue; and (v) employment potential. I IJPASI, The Plarrtr~s' ('hrotiicle (Coonoor. AugustISeptember 1992) p.362 2. UPASI, Plarller :s /);rectory (Coonoor, September 1996) p. 1 F'lpre 4. I Kerala-The Important State in the Plantation Map of India Source: UPASI. 4.1 Share in Cultivated Area Kerala accounts for about 46 per cent of the total area under plantations in ~ndia.~ The crop-wise break up in terms of area and production is shown in Table 4.1. Table 4.1 Place of Kerala in India's Plantation Map (1995-'96) Type of Area (Hectares) Production (Tonnes) crop Kerala India Kerala India Tea 34,656 4,30,888 64,794 7,49,888 Coffee 82,348 2,92,467 40,400 2,00,000 Rubber 4,43,300 5,15,572 4.76,495 5,06,910 Cardamom 43,320 83,700 4,185 6,338 Source: (a) State Planning Board, Government of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram (b) Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Thiruvananthapuram. It is evident from the table that rubber cultivation in Kerala forms b5.98 per cent of the total area under rubber in the country. Kerala's rubber production is 94 per cent of the total rubber production in India. Cardamom also occupies a prominent place in the matter of area and production. Kerala accounts for 5 1.76 per cent of the area and 66 per cent of the production of cardamom in the country. Based on Table 4.1, Figures 4.2 and 4.3 give a diagrammatic representation of the area and production of plantation crops in Kerala respectively . 3. Economic Review, op. cit., 1997, p. 48 Figure 4 2 Area Under Plantation Crops in India and Kerala (1995-'96) Tea Coffee Rubber Cardamom Type of crop Source: Table 4.1 Figure 3.3 Production of Plantation Crops in India and Kerala (1995-'96) Kerala Tea Coffee Rubber Cardamom Type of crop Source: Table 4.1 4.1.1 Share in Net Cultivated Area Plantation crops account for about 27 per cent of the net cultivated area in eral la.^ The details are shown in Table 4.2. Table 4.2 Area under plantation crops vis-a-vis total cultivated area in Kerala (area in '000 hect.) Year Plantat~ons Total for Total Plantations Cultivated Tea Coffee Rubber Cardamom m Kerala area in Kerala 1995-'96 35 82 443 43 603 2,263 Source: Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Thi~vananthapuram. Figure 4.4 shows the area under plantation crops during the period 1990-'91 to 1995-'96. F~gure X -I Area Under Plantution Crops - in Kerala (1990-'91 tg 1995'94) - . Tea coffee Rubber Cardamom Total Type of Crop Source: Table 4.2 Among the four crops, lubber accounts for the largest share in the net cultivated area in Kerala. 4.2 Contribution to State Agricultural Income The State's Income fiom all the sectors in 1995-'96 is Rs. 7,018 crores. The contribution of agricultural sector to the state income is Rs. 2,365 crores. The plantation crops account for Rs. 723.69 ~rores.~ Table 4.3 shows the share of tea, coffee, rubber and cardamom in State Agricultural Income. Table 4.3 Share of Plantations in State Agricultural Income (1995'96) - - S1. No Type of crop Percentage share in Agricultural SDP 1 Tea 6.4 2 Coffee 3.0 3 Rubber 18.7 4 Cardamom 2.5 Total 30.6 Source: UPASI. Coonoor Crop-wise, rubber accounts for 18.7 per cent followed by tea (6.4 per cent), coffee (3 per cent) and cardamom (2.5 per cent) in the agricultural income of the state. Figure 4.5 provides a diagrammatic illus!~%tion of Table 4.3 . 5. Ibid., compliled from various tables. Figure 4.5 Share of Plantations in State Agricultural Income (1995-'96) Tea Coffee Rubber Cardamom Type of crop Source: Table 4.3. [...]... Plantations in Keralu (1960-'61 to 1995-'96) MOO 3500 Year Source: Table 4.1 1 Small Growers in the Plantation Sector 4.8 There is predominance of small growers in the plantation sector Table 4.12 reveals the share of small growers in the production of plantation crops in South India Table 4.12 Small Growers' Share in the Production of Plantation Crops in South India (1995-'96) - - No of small growers... Despite the state yield in Robusta increasing from 225 kghectare in 1955'56 to 520 kg/hectare in 1995-'96, it is less than 40 per cent of that available in Karnataka influenced to a large extent by the concentration of small holdings in eral la.' ' 4.10.4 Structure of Coffee Plantations In the coffee economy of the country, small growers play an important role There are 1,28,324 coffee holdings/estates in. .. and the area under them exceeded the area of estates At present, 90 per cent of the area and 85 per cent of the production are accounted for the small holders Now there are about 8,00,000 small holdings." In Kerala, rubber is mainly cultivated in Kottayam district 4.12 Cardamom Kerala has the largest stake in cardamom, as in the case of rubber Cardamom (small) is grown i n the three Southern States of. .. l?mployment in Plantations in Kerala (1995-'96) 23.00% 64.00% a n ~ e a Coffee Source Table 4.6 [3 Rubber Cardamom In Kerala, rubber plantations employ the largest number of workers followed by tea, coffee and cardaniom 4.6 Plantation Crops in Kerala' s Economy A study of the relative share of plantations in terms of the net cultivated area, state domestic product, foreign exchange earnings to the country,... holdings/estates in India of which 1,20,200 are below 10 hectares Ninety-four per cent of India's coffee growers are s~nall and marginal growers Generally small growers (owning up to 10 hectares) account for 53 per cent of the coffee area and 48 per cent of the In Kerala there are 77,073 units of which 75,559 units are below 10 hectares." Nearly 82 per cent of the area under coffee in the state is in I Wayanad... Coffee Cardamom Type of crop Source: Table 4.4 4.4 Contribution to the State's Tax Revenue Contribution of plantation crops to the state's tax revenue is an important indicator of the economic significance of this sector Table 4.5 shows the details of the Centre-State break up of the various I taxes from the Plantation sector to the State Govenunent ,A varlety of taxes ;inti duties to the Central and State... is 4,30,888 hectares of which South India accounts for 85,100 hectares which constitutes 20 per cent.' In South India tea is mainly grown in Nilgiris, Anamallais, Kaman Devan Hills and over the slopes of mountains stretching down to the plains of Kerala Table 4.13 shows the State-wise distribution of tea planted areas in the South Table 4.13 Tea Plantation Areas in the South (in hectares) (1995'96)... Figure 4.9 Growth of Coffee Plantations in Kerala (Area and Production) (1 950-1995) Year Source: Table 4.9 It is clear from the table and figure, that on the whole, area under coffee and output of coffee are on an increase in Kerala during the period 1950-1996, though there are slight variations Table 4.10 gives the iuea and production figures relating to rubber in Kerala during the period 1955'-'56to... earnings (6.9 per cent) and employment (4.6 per cent) 4.7 Growth of Plantations in Kerala Tables 4.8, 4.9, 4.10 and 4.11 give details about the growth of tea, coffee, rubber and cardamom in telms of area and production in Kerala Table 4.8 and Figure 4.8 provide statistics relating to the area and production of tea plantations in Kerala during the period 1950-1996 70 Table 4.8 I Growth of Tea Plantations... significance to Kerala because of the high land productivity, relative to other crops, export earnings and employment in rural and backward areas 4.9.1 Area Among all the tea producing countries of the world, India has the largest acreage under the crop Major tea growing regions are located in Assam and West Bengal in North India and Tamil Nadu and Kerala in South India The total area under the crop is . IV ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF THE PLANTATION SECTOR IN KERALA CHAPTER IV ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF THE PLANTATION SECTOR IN KERALA With nearly half the. important indicator of the economic significance of this sector. Table 4.5 shows the details of the Centre-State break up of the various taxes from the Plantation