parts of Kottayam district while kari lands are situated in the taluks of Viakom, Cherthala and
Ambalapuzha.
13
Compared to other
paddy growing areas in Kerala, paddy cultivation in Kuttanad region has certain unique characteristics. Paddy lands in this region are divided into contiguous blocks called
padasekharams bound
by waterways, rivers and other natural partitions. Many of such padasekharams are man made in the sense that they are reclaimed lands from the bed of backwaters. Hence it is said that while god created earth,
man created Kuttanad’
14
. The size of padasekharams ranges from less than one hectare to more than 1000 hectares. In this region there are 1231 padasekharams covering a total area of 59375 hectares. As
puncha crop (summer crop) is the traditional crop in Kuttanad during which
80 percent
of the paddy fields are sown, from early days paddy cultivation in this region is called puncha cropping. The season begins from October-November when the operation of bailing out water from padasekharams starts. The other season is the
virippu season (autumn or varsha crop) in which 40 percent of the paddy lands are cultivated. Padasekharams where the second crop is not raised are submerged underwater for most part of the year. Before the completion of the Thanneermukkom
Saltwater Barrier, the low lying areas in this region were periodically inundated with saline water by the tidal inflows from the Arabian Sea. Compared to the other rice producing areas in the state, productivity of paddy crop is higher in Kuttanad region.
Similarly, the per hectare cost of cultivation is also found to be higher in this region. The wetland ecosystem of the region is helpful to the excessive growth and spread of weeds and insects. The incidence of plant diseases and rate of crop failures are relatively higher in this area. The high degree of human intervention in the natural endowment of the region coupled with the indiscriminate use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers over the past several years has caused irrevocable damage to the ecosystem of Kuttanad. Another distinct feature of Kuttanad region is the emergence and spread of aggressive trade unionism among the farm labourers, which brought out drastic changes in agrarian relations. Both the farm labourers and farmers are well organized in this area. The region had been a hotbed of several violent labour struggles
starting from the so called 13
Ibid, p. 4 14
Tharamangalam J (1981):
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