Impact of Drought on Plantation Crops in Kasaragod District
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Date
1997
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Abstract
The study has revealed that agricultural drought with reference to plantation crops of Kerala should be classified on the basis of rainfall distribution during summer, and not on rainfall that is assured during the monsoon. A total of 41 agricultural droughts occurred during 1942 to 1997. Out of 41 agricultural droughts years, II each fell under moderate and large, 12 severe, and seven under disastrous categories. It should that 46.4 per cent of the year fell under severe and disastrous droughts. It is evident that the plantation crops that are grown in the low nd mid-lands of Kasaragod District experience severe soil moisture stress almost in half of the years. It was probably one of the reasons why the fluctuation in plantation crop production was noticed very often. In the recent past, the occurrence of disastrous drought in summer was seen in 1979, 1983, 1989, 1992 and 1997. In case of coconut production, the effect of drought was seen in the subsequent year only, while the yield in other crops suffered during the same year. The effect of drought on pepper as well as on cashew production was not seen, though the mortality rate was high due to drought in young pepper vines. The studies also revealed that pepper is the best mixed crop wherever coconut and coffee are grown as monocrops, to ensure better net return from a unit area under drought conditions. The effect of drought could be alleviated in almost all the plantation crops through better management practices under rain fed conditions even without providing summer irrigation, which is scarce in the northern districts of Kerala.
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Swadeshi Science Congress 97 p 62-68