The Hindu Business Line : Conversion of paddy fields will be prohibited in Kerala: Minister

THE State Government will ensure that the Land Utilisation Act is implemented in letter and spirit in order that conversion of paddy fields comes to a virtual stop, according to the State Minister for Agriculture, Ms K.R. Gouri.

It was merely waiting to receive a report commissioned in this connection - being prepared by a panel headed by the Land Use Commissioner - prior to acting decisively, the Minister told the State Assembly on Wednesday.

The report would be tabled in the House and discussed threadbare, the Minister assured members. Replying to questions, the Minister said she wanted to proceed further only after drumming up a political consensus on the matter.

Govt not sole culprit: The total area under cultivation in the State had come down to three lakh hectares from eight lakh hectares. The Government should not be expected to take the entire blame for such a situation. Land was being indiscriminately used also for building vital infrastructure such as petrol bunks, colleges, offices and shopping arcades. In not a dissimilar fashion, permission granted to the houseless for converting up to five cents of agricultural land was being widely misused for appropriating ownership.

The Land Utilisation Act of 1967 expressly disallowed conversion of paddy lands. Those assigned with the task of enforcing the law were often found wanting when it came to acting purposefully in the matter. This had only encouraged the cause of the encroachers who used the delay to their advantage by making a case, often with success, for regularising the land under occupation.

Pesticide holiday: The Minister said the Government was under the impression that the pesticide, endosulfan, had gone out of circulation of the State's farming population, especially following publication of the Dubey Committee report and pendency of a stay granted by the court.

In written replies to question, the Minister said endosulfan was first used in the cashew plantations owned by the Plantation Corporation of Kerala in Kasaragode district in 1978. However, after December 2000, its use had dropped to almost nil.

The Government had ordered a `pesticide holiday' in the Peria Division of the district, which includes the worst-affected Padre village, so that over a period of five years, the area could be declared clean from use of the pesticide. Aerial spraying was not a viable option since contamination of water bodies in the neighbourhood posed a bigger threat.

Various studies had since confirmed that physical deformities reported from affected areas could squarely be attributed to the use of endosulfan, the Minister said.

More Stories on : Agricultural Policy | Kerala

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Survey calls for restraint on grains MSP hike

Reforms — a must in food management

Dena Bank's rural thrust

Rubber turns weak

AMFI for MF investments in gold, silver

Calcutta HC quashes Jute Packaging Order

Conversion of paddy fields will be prohibited in Kerala: Minister

Centre urged to let panels probe ryots' suicides in AP