ENVIS Centre: Kerala
Status of Environment and Related Issues

 Crop

Kerala, the State with network of azure backwaters, rivers and streams, boasts of an agrarian economy. The abundance of water due to the 34 lakes and other small streamlets, innumerable backwaters and water bodies and 44 rain-fed rivers flowing over the terrain of the state and also the adequate annual rainfall of 3000mm received by this state probably facilitates agriculture to a great extent and hence the economy of the state is dominated by agriculture. The most essential or the staple crop is the rice or paddy. About 600 varieties of rice are grown in the sprawling paddy fields of Kerala. In fact the Kuttanad region of the district of Kerala is known as the 'rice bowl of the state' and enjoys a significant status in the production of rice. Next to rice is Tapioca and is cultivated mainly in the drier regions. Tapioca is a major food of the Keralites. Besides production of the main crop, Kerala is also a major producer of spices that form the cash crops of the state. Kerala produces 96% of the country's national output of pepper. The important spices are cardamom, cinnamon, clove, turmeric, nutmeg and vanilla.
Other cash crops that constitute the agricultural sector include Tea, coffee, cashew, Pulses, areca nut, ginger and coconut. In fact coconut provides the principal source of income in Kerala- from coir industry to coconut shell artifacts. Cashew is also an essential cash crop. Kerala also accounts for 91% of natural rubber production of the country. Kottayam district has extensive areas producing and processing rubber. Apart from rubber, other plantation crop likes plantains or bananas are also grown in plenty.
    The trends in agricultural income in Kerala during the last six years is shown in Table 1. The provisional estimate for 2009-10 indicated an increase of 0.25 per cent in growth over 2008-09.
Table 1: Trends in Agricultural Income in Kerala
 

Trend in Area, Production and Productivity of Crops: Data regarding the area, production and productivity of important crops grown in Kerala are shown in Table 2. Out of a gross cropped area of 26.69 lakh ha. in 2009-10, food crops comprising rice, pulses, minor millets and tapioca occupy only 11.86 per cent. Kerala state which had a low base in food production is facing serious challenges in retaining even this meager area. Kerala agricultural economy is undergoing structural transformation from the mid seventies by switching over a large proportion of its traditional crop area which was devoted to subsistence crops like rice and tapioca to more remunerative crops like coconut and rubber.
Table 2:  Area, Production and productivity of principal crops

Rice: The production and productivity of rice in Kerala and India is shown in Table 3. The area under rice has been declining consistently over the last several years. But the pattern appears to have reversed in the recent year. After a long period of continuous decline, area under paddy increased from 2.29 lakh ha in 2007-08 to 2.34 lakh ha in 2008-09 and slightly declined by 252 ha only in 2009-10.
Table 3:  Production and productivity of Rice in Kerala and India

The average annual decline in area under rice during the Eighth Five Year Plan was around 22000 ha, whereas it has come down to an average of 13000 ha. during the Ninth Plan period. The average annual reduction in area during Tenth Plan was 9398 ha. During 2007- 08, decline in area was to the tune of 34591 ha. from 2.64 lakh ha. in 2006-07 to 2.29 lakh ha and rice production declined from 6.42 lakh MT to 5.28 lakh MT, and then increased to 5.90 lakh MT in 2008-09, indicating a 11.74 percent increase over the previous year. The area under rice increased to 2.34 lakh ha in 2008-09. During 2009-10, there was a slight reduction in area by 252 ha only over 2008-09, while production increased by 8098 MT. The deviation in area and production of rice in the major districts of Kerala during 2009-10 over 2008-09 (%) is shown in Figure 1. The average productivity which was stagnant at around 2.2 MT/ha for four years till 2005-06 has improved to 2.4 t/ha in 2006-07 and slightly declined to 2.31 t in 2007-08 and further improved to 2.56 t in 2009-10. Increase in area under paddy has been recorded in Kottayam (4523 ha), Palakkad (4332ha) and Wayanad (249 ha) while the corresponding increase in production are 7258 mT, 26087 mT and 1782 mT respectively during 2009-10. Rice productivity at current level is sub optimal. Instead of providing area based subsidies, suitably designed incentive system is essential to promote productivity by exploiting the potential of agro ecological zones.
Figure1: Deviation in area and production of rice in the major districts of Kerala during 2009-10 over 2008-09 (%)

The area and production of paddy in the state since the last 50 years is given in Figure 2. Though there were notable area enhancement till the beginning of 1980’s the area is under constant decline since then. A slight area enhancement was noticed during 2008-09 compared to 2007-08 wherein the lowest area under rice was recorded since past 50 years. A slight reduction in area is recorded in 2009-10. The maximum area under rice of 8.81 lakh ha was in 1974-75 with a production of 13.34 lakh tonnes. In the production scenario, early periods indicated production enhancement. However production showed declining trends since 1983 and the lowest production was recorded during 2007-08. The year 2008-09 and 2009-10 present a solace by showing a slight production enhancement of rice in the state.
Figure 2: Area and production of paddy in Kerala (1960-61 to 2009-10)

The production in 2010-11 is expected to increase further. Additional support was also provided for upland rice cultivation in potential areas for the first time in 2009-10. A special scheme as part of food security project for 36 crores was also launched in 2009-10 and consolidated in 2010-11 for the development of rice in the state. The conversion of paddy lands for other purposes was also stopped from 2009-10 as a result of the Kerala Paddy Land – Wet Land Conservation Act, 2008 passed by the state.  A State level project has to be prepared for the promotion of rice production by linking the schemes of Department of Agriculture, local governments and Kudumbashree. Padasekharam based action plans have to be prepared linking with credit, input support, water management, insurance, procurement and supplementary income sources. Panchayat wise targets could be fixed in potential areas for convergence, with the plan of the local governments. The project should also cover total crop insurance and total procurement. Development of local water resources and lift irrigation schemes also could be integrated in the project. Separate targets could be fixed for different potential areas like kole lands, Kuttanad, Palakkad etc. A package also could be considered for promoting upland rice including development of suitable rice varieties.
Pepper:  According to International Pepper Community (IPC) world pepper production in 2010 has declined by 0.71 percent to 316380 mT. For 2011, IPC has projected a lower production level of 309952mT. The productivity of pepper achieved its peak level of 376 kg. per ha during 1998-99. The productivity of pepper recorded during 2009-10 was only 221 kg, per ha. The production declined from 41952 MT during 2007-08 to 40641 MT in 2008-09 and 37899 MT in 2009-10. Pepper produced in Kerala fetches a premium price in international market in view of its intrinsic quality. The revival of pepper cultivation in the state has to be given priority considering the declining trend in production, disease incidence as well as the damages caused to the Erythrina Standards. A major pepper rehabilitation package has been initiated in Wayanad. Spices Board also started supporting pepper production programmes in Wayanad and Idukki districts.
         However consequent to the liberalisation of imports, there are reports of low quality pepper imported from other producing countries. The import of pepper has increased from 5839 MT in 2000 to 13120 MT in 2008 affecting the interests of pepper farmers of the State. The new Indo Asean FTA is expected to further deleteriously affect pepper farmers in the state. Government of India should build in adequate safety mechanism and monitoring system to see that the issue of certification of origin and the condition relating to origin of the goods are not violated. India could export 42806 MT of pepper in 1999-00, which declined to 25250 MT in 2008-09 which further declined to 19750 MT in 2009-10. The value realization was at 313.92 crores in 2009-10 which declined from  413.74 crores in 2008-09 and unit value realization has also declined to 158.94 per Kg from  163.86 per kg. respectively in the corresponding period.
         Price of pepper moved consistently upwards from early nineties and reached a peak level in 1999-00 with 215 per kg. Since then declined to 174 per kg. in 2000-01, further down to 80 per kg. in 2001-02 and increased slightly to 114.76/kg. in 2008-09 and further increased to  134.82/ kg in 2009-10. The recent upsurge in prices indicate the revival of pepper prices to the 1999-00 levels.
Cashew: Area under the crop in Kerala, has been declining steadily from 1.25 lakh ha. in 1988- 89 to 0.49 lakh ha. in 2009-10 and the production declined from 1.08 lakh MT to 0.36 lakh MT during the period and is shown below. The share of Kerala in the area under cashew in the country has come down from 23 per cent in 1987-88 to 5.30 percent in 2009-10 and the corresponding decline in share of production from 31 per cent to 5.95 per cent. Area and production are increasing steadily in other producing states in the country. Maharashtra is the leading producer with 32.30 percent share in production during 2008-09, whose share was only 10 per cent in 1990-91.

In spite of operating special schemes for expansion of area under cashew, the coverage has been steadily declining during the last two decades. The decline in area from 1980-81 to 2008-09 was to the tune of 88395 ha. During 2009-10, there was a further decline of 3903 ha under cashew in the state. Productivity of the crop, which was around 900 kg. per ha. During late eighties has also started declining from 1995-96 onwards, reaching 562 kg. per ha. During 1998-99 and thereafter hovering around 800 kg. In 2009-10, it has declined to 744 Kg/ha. India exported cashew kernels worth 2905.82 crore during 2009-10 and imported raw nuts worth ` 3037.35 crore resulting in a net foreign exchange loss of  131.53 crore. During 2009-10, there was a decline of 1.28 percent in quantity exported while 24.27 percent increase in quantity of raw nuts imported compared to previous year. U.S.A. is the major export market with 28 per cent export share followed by UAE (16.8 per cent). The total raw nuts imported into India during 2009-10 was 7.53 lakh MT. Around 35 per cent of total raw nuts imported is from Ivory Cost followed by Guinea Bissau (15 per cent). Tanzania has emerged as another supplier of raw cashew nuts with a share of 10 per cent of total imports. The unit import price for raw cashew nut was 43.45/kg during 2008-09 as against 28.83/Kg during the previous year. Out of imported nuts 57 per cent of imported raw nuts is bought to Kerala during 2008-09 which was 46 per cent in 1998-99. Cashew processing industry is finding it extremely difficult even to maintain the present level of capacity utilization because of the lower availability of local raw cashew nuts. Concerted efforts are needed to nurture this crop in the state with programmes to promote high density planting with high yielding cashew grafts. The initiatives of the Horticulture Mission to promote cashew cultivation needs to be upscaled with the involvement of the department of agriculture to promote cashew in potential areas.

Rubber: India is the fourth largest producer of natural rubber with a share of eight per cent in the world after Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. The production of natural rubber in the country was 8.31 lakh MT in 2009-10, registering a 3.8 per cent decline compared to the previous year. India is at the same time the second largest consumer of natural rubber after China. A 34 percent decline in the consumption of USA was recorded in 2009 over 2008 while consumption in China and India increased by 17.70 percent and 2.70 percent respectively. Kerala accounts for 78 percent of the area under rubber in the country. The coverage under the crop in 2009-10 was 5.25 lakh ha, higher by 7933 ha. over the previous year. The production of natural rubber in Kerala during the year was 7.45 lakh tonnes indicating a 4.85 per cent decline over the previous year. The increasing trend in productivity continued during 2008-09. It was 1190 kg. per ha in 1998-99, which rose to 1514 kg during 2008-09. However it declined slightly to 1419 Kg/ha in 2009-10. In terms of tapping area, productivity recorded was 1867 kg. per ha during the year 2008-09 which declined to 1784 Kg/ha in 2009-10. The total quantity imported was 86394 MT which slightly declined to 77616 MT in 2008-09. The import increased to 176756 MT in 2009-10. The higher prices in the international market is reflected in the domestic market also. The average price of RSS4 in the domestic market at Kottayam was 114.98 per kg. in 2009- 10. The international price of RSS3, equivalent of RSS4 of India, was 111.13 in the corresponding period. The price of RSS 4 in Kottayam reached 137.82 during August 2008 and then declined to 64.88 in October 2008 and further increased to 108.98 in October 2009 and 149.48 in March 2010.
Coffee:The area under coffee in Kerala was 0.85 lakh ha out of 3.99 lakh ha in the country during 2009-10, which works out to 21 per cent. The share of Kerala in production is 20.5 per cent during 2009-10. Major variety grown in Kerala is Robusta with a share of 95 per cent in planted area. Production of coffee during the year was only 0.59 lakh MT against 2.90 lakh MT for the country. Productivity of the crop in terms of bearing area in Kerala (705 kg/ha) is lower than the national level of 826 kg/ha. Area under coffee registered substantial increase during the last two decades with an annual growth rate of over 2 per cent. The increase in production recorded during the period was much higher and registered an annual average growth rate of nearly nine per cent. Coffee provides opportunities for livelihood to nearly one lakh families including agricultural labourers. In Kerala, coffee is also one of the small holder plantation crops with nearly 76,000 holdings coming under the category with an average size of 1.1 ha. Consumption of coffee has remained more or less static at around 55,000 tonnes for the past one and half decades till 1999 and then slightly improved to 70,000 tonnes in 2003, and further to 1 lakh tonnes in 2009.
      Coffee is a highly export dependent crop and more than 80 per cent of domestic production is exported. The unit value realization has declined drastically from ` 95.37 per kg. in 1997-98 to `106.08 per kg in 2009-10. The quantity of coffee exported from India declined in 2009-10 to 2.04 lakh tonnes from 2.18 lakh tonnes in 2007-08 and slightly improved in 2008-09. To mitigate the problems of coffee growers arising from the low prices of coffee, a series of steps have been taken including the restructuring of loans and interest relief to coffee growers (a subsidy of 5 percent for small growers and 3 percent for large growers is available for working capital). Rainfall insurance as a risk management support for coffee growers in collaboration with AIC is also implemented. Government of India has approved in June 2010 the coffee debt relief package 2010 for the debt ridden small coffee growers with a total financial implication of Rs. 241.33 crores. It is in the early stage of implementation.
Tea:  Against the total area of 5.11 lakh ha under tea in the country Kerala accounts for only 0.37 lakh ha. In respect of production the share of Kerala is 6.6 per cent in 2007. Tea plantations owned by big companies employ a labour force of over 84,000 in the organized sector. There is fluctuation in production and it ranged from 64.8 M. kgs. in 1995-96, reaching to 69.1 M.kgs. in 2000-01 which declined to 56 M Kgs. in 2007 and improved to 57.81 M Kg in 2009. Imports increased from 13.4 M. kg. in 2000 to 20.28 M kg. in 2009. However during 2003 the import declined substantially to 9.8 M. kgs. The maximum quantity of tea was imported from Nepal (31 per cent), followed by Vietnam (25 per cent) and Indonesia (11 per cent). The unit value of imported tea was the lowest from Vietnam (`53/kg) while the average being `62/kg. The disturbing fact is that most of the countries are exporting to India at low prices. The average price of tea in 2007-08 was `67.3 per Kg which increased to `110.30 in 2008-09 and declined slightly to `107.81 in 2009-10. Productivity of Tea in India is much lower than that in Vietnam. The organic tea production is a major shift in this sector. (eg. Darjeeling tea). In Kerala coverage under organic tea could be increased . Government of India has set up a special purpose Tea Fund for funding replantation
and rejuvenation aimed at improving the age profile of tea plantation with an estimated outlay of `567.10 crores during Eleventh Five Year Plan. The estimated area to be taken up for replantation/ rejuvenation during the period would be 85044 ha in the country.

Cardomom:  Productivity which was more or less stagnant around 50 kg./ha. in the 1980s has improved to the level of around 203 kg. per ha by 2001 and increased slightly to 206 kg/ha in 2008-09 and declined to 188 Kg/ha in 2009-10. The share of Kerala in production at the All India level increased from 28 per cent in 1992-93 to 56 per cent in 2008-09. While area under cardamom in the country has declined from 0.97 lakh ha to 0.73 lakh ha. in the period, in Kerala it has come down from 65,000 ha to 41593 ha. On the export front cardamom has been facing competition from Guatemala although the quality of Guatemala cardamom is inferior. The country could tide over the challenge by expanding domestic market through market promotion. The average price during 2000-01 was ` 570 per kg. which is declined to ` 463.14 in 2007-08 and improved to `506.44 in 2008-09 and `800.08 in 2009-10. The Indian export of cardamom has increased from early nineties and reached a peak level of 1545 MT in 2000-01 and then increased by 27.8 percent in 2009-10 to reach 1975 MT. The unit price of exported Cardamom increased steadily to ` 838 per kg. in 2009-10 from ` 630 per kg. in 2008-09. However the market for cardamom is largely domestic as could be seen from the declining share of exports and the share of exports is only 5 per cent of the production.

Organic Farming in Kerala
The certified organic agriculture in 2006-07 in India was 4.14 lakh ha with a major share in Madhya Pradesh (1.12 lakh ha) Maharashtra (96879.06 ha), Orissa (67503.39 ha) and Kerala (11141.54 ha). Production of organic tea, rice, vegetables, pepper etc is done in Kerala in small areas. Department of Agriculture, State Horticulture Mission (SHM), and VFPCK are the major agencies supporting the organic farming directly in the state apart from NGOs. The area covered under organic farming during 2005-06 to 2008-09 by SHM is 14279 Ha out of which 950 Ha area is under certification. A number of 61695 farmers are also covered by the mission during the period. The crop wise area under organic farming is given below:

The state Department of Agriculture is creating and promoting awareness on organic agriculture among farmers to a limited extent. During 2003-04, Dept. of Agriculture has set up a cell for promotion of Sustainable Agriculture and Organic Farming in Wayanad. In the year 2010-11 a programme to promote organic farming in selected 20 blocks was initiated. In the current year the programme is under progress focusing on food crops. Area based approach is required for promoting organic agriculture in selected crops. VFPCK is promoting Organic Farming in Nendran banana, leafy vegetables, bhindi, brinjal, bitter gourd and chilly. It is targeted to promote organic farming in 5500 ha in 2010-11 in all 14 districts.
            The State has a number of non certified organic farmers who produce rice, vegetables and fruits. Some of them are under PGS certification (Participatory Guarantee System under PGS Council of India –a council formed by a group of organisations promoting organic farming among small and marginal farmers in the country and which is accredited by NCOF). Kerala State Jaiva Karshaka Samithy has a number of registered organic farmers in the state who are not certified. Similarly Kudumbashree Mission, Mahila Samakhya Society and many other organisations have promoted organic farming among women and most of them can be treated as farmers under conversion.
            Promotion of organic agriculture in Kerala could be done effectively after strengthening the organic input supply system and marketing network. The support for certification cost also to be provided. Isolated attempts were made for the last 5-6 years for promoting organic agriculture and major projects were not implemented through Government support.
Collective farming through Kudumbashree
            ‘Harithashree’, the lease land farming promoted by the State Poverty Eradication Mission, Kerala, through ‘Kudumbasree’, has helped women farmers to stay on in agriculture for their livelihood. The major crop cultivated by the Kudumbashree group is Paddy (27% of area) followed by Plantain and vegetables during 2009-10 under the lease land farming.
            During the financial year 2009-10, various crops including paddy, vegetables and others (banana, tapioca, pineapple, ginger, medicinal plants, betel vine) were cultivated in a total area of 25162.12 ha. Area brought under cultivation of paddy was 6790.93 ha, Vegetables contributed to 2987.96 ha and 15383.23 ha of area was covered by other crops. Details of area covered are depicted in Table 4.8. Correspondingly area incentive of `10.68 crore has been distributed by Kudumbashree. In addition to this, a production incentive of Rs. 9.43 crore was also given. Thus a total expenditure of `20.11 crore was incurred by Kudumbashree for collective farming.

 Biofertilizers in Kerala
( Source : Economic Review 2010)

Livestock
Cattle, buffalo, goat, pig, poultry, duck are the major live stock population reared in Kerala. In Kerala as per 2003 census nearly 94% of the livestock population is concentrated in the rural area, 80% of the livestock farmers area marginal farmers and agricultural farmers. Women constitute 60% of the workers in this sector. As per 2003 figures, Kerala's share in all India cattle population is 1.13%, buffalo population accounts only for 0.07%, goat 1.01% and pig 0.05%. Cattle population in the state is 21.22 lakh, of which 17.35 lakh were crossbed. Of the total cattle population Palakkad district accounts fro 12.4% and Wayanad for 4.89%. Higher number of buffalo population is concentrated in Malappuram district (19%), goat in Thiruvananthapuram (12%) and pig in Idukky (30%). Regarding poultry Malappuram accounts for 13% fowls and Alappuzha accounts for 38% of ducks.

SOURCE: LIVESTOCK CENSUS REPORT/ANIMAL HUSBANDRY DEPARTMENT

Livestock Development: Livestock sector in Kerala is livelihood intensive and also a major contributor to Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), it could be as high as 40 percent of the agricultural GSDP in Kerala. Contribution of livestock sector to the GSDP, is not made visible because it is always clubbed with Agriculture and allied sectors. Livestock production has been traditionally practiced in the State mainly as an extensive, low input subsistence system integrated with crop production. The subtle changes emerging in the sector calls for reorientation in the approach for future development and growth.
Trend in Livestock Population: Cattle population in Kerala which was 33.96 lakh in 1996 declined to 21.22 lakh in 2003 and further to 17.20 lakh by 2007. The crossbred cattle population which stood at 22.87 lakhs (67%) as per 1996 Census decreased to 17.35 lakh numbers and in percentage terms increased to 82% by 2003. It further declined to 16.21 lakh numbers and in percentage terms increased to 93% in 2007. This increase in proportion of crossbred population was made possible by expanded health care facilities and artificial insemination services available in the State.
( Source : Economic Review 2010)

Fisheries Sector
The demand for fish and fishery products are increasing considerably in the country, both in domestic and exports fronts. The major share of 5.34 million tonnes is expected from inland aquaculture followed by 3.10 million tonnes from marine fisheries (Planning Commission 2007). The global production of fish from aquaculture has grown rapidly during the past four decades (accounts for nearly 45 percent of the world's food fish). China account for 67.3 percent of the food fish aquaculture production followed by India (5.9%) and Vietnam (3.0%).
India is endowed with vast fisheries resources in terms of a coast line of 8118 km and 2.02 million sq.km of exclusive economic zone, including 0.53 million sq.km of continental shelf. The inland fisheries include rivers and canals (1.95 lakh km), reservoirs (3.15 million ha), food plain wetlands (0.30 million ha), estuaries (0.26 million ha), fresh waters (2.41 million ha) and brackish water bodies (1.24 million ha). These resources are one of the main sources of livelihood for the rural poor, particularly the fisher community. At present, an estimated 14 million people are engaged in fishing, aquaculture and ancillary activities in the country
The state has all the requisite natural endowments for building a strong and vibrant fisheries economy in tune with the national strategy. They include a stretch of coastal belt extending over 590 km and extensive inland water spread of around 4 lakh hectares. The exclusive economic zone ( sea spread up to 200 metres) lying adjacent to Kerala coast is spread over 36000 square kilometres which is almost equivalent to the land area of the state.
The estimated fisher folk population of Kerala is 11.114 lakh, which include 8.558 lakh in the marine sector and 2.556 lakh in the inland sector. There are 222 fishing villages in the marine and 113 fishery villages in the inland sector, where fishing and relative activities provide livelihood to a vast majority of the population. Alappuzha district is the first place in the number of fisher folk with a population of 1.86 lakh followed by Thiruvananthapuram (1.83 lakh).
Species -wise Composition of Fish Landing
According to the Kerala Marine Fisheries Regulation Act, the inshore Area coming within the depth range of 50 meters has been demarcated for fishing by the traditional fishermen using country crafts and the area beyond the limit in the economic zones can be utilized by motorized boats and large vessels. As this restriction is not being strictly followed, monsoon trawling has been banned from 1980 onwards as preventive measures. Although the fish catches from the Kerala coast include more than 300 different species, the commercially important number about forty only. The high value species among the fish catches are still few; prominent among them are seer fish, pomfret and prawn. Ribbon fishes are also now a target group. During 2006-07 the catch of Ribbon fish was 18000 tonnes. Unfortunately the share of these high value varieties in the total marine fish catch has been remaining stagnant. The annual potential of prawn is estimated by 64482 tonnes. The average catch of prawn during 2006-07 was 56779 tonnes. The catch of oil sardine, the most important variety consumes mainly by the poorer sections of the society exceeded the potential in recent years. The catch of sardine during 2006-07 was 2.15 lakh tonnes.
 

Species wise composition of Marine fish landings in Kerala (2004-2005 to 2006-2007) (Tonnes)

Source: Directorate of Fisheries
Species-wise Inland Fish Production in Kerala (2003-04 to 2006-07)

Source: Directorate of Fisheries
Trend in production
Among the maritime states in India , Kerala occupies the foremost position in marine fish production, accounting for about 20 % of the total landings. Marine capture fisheries have always dominated the total fish production, compared to Inland fisheries in Kerala. Fish production in the marine sector over the last 10 years presents more or less a stagnant trend with an average production of 5.88 lakh tonnes. The marine fishery resource of the state has almost attained the optimum level of production. In this context there is no scope for further increase in fish production for inshore marine capture fisheries. However, the total inland fish production has shown an increasing trend in Kerala. The inland fish production reached peak share of 13 % of the total fish production of the state during 2000-01 and thereafter decline slightly. At the national level more than 50% of the total fish production is contributed by the inland sector.
( Source : Economic Review 2007 )