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Agriculture as a

By K R Ranjith, K P Jayakumar

Who says money does not grow on trees?” Geetha Pandey of the BBC couldn't have concluded her story on the unique saga of Vanilla in India better. She was all praise for the new crop which she termed as the 'discovery of a new gold' by the villagers of Kerala. National and international

media were upbeat over the spread of Vanilla (Vanilla Planifolia) in the peninsular India. Success stories of smart farmers-turned-rupee-millionaires became the staple diet for the media from the '90s through the early years of the new millennia.

Distress of spices

speculative misadventureThe tragedy of vanilla in IndiaVanilla, known as the queen of spices and the scent of love, has earned a dubious fame among the farmers of South India who were cajoled in to one of the most vulnerable speculative agricultural misadventure. The introduction of the new crop in to the communities in Kerala also brought in some interesting (and disturbing) socio-economic changes.

Nobody cared a revisit to the villages once hailed as the model Vanilla

villages and no one seemed to care for those who were left high and dry by the magic crop that lost its spell.

A f e w w e e k s b a c k , w e v i s i t e d Ramamangalam, a small agricultural village 35 km from Kochi, touted as the first model vanilla village in India by the Spices Board in 1991. The village had more than 500 vanilla farmers, the highest number of vanilla cultivators in the country making it the biggest producer and supplier of natural vanilla at the national level. When the whole national production of vanilla recorded 200 tonnes, Ramamangalam's share in it was a whopping 120 tonnes. “Where vanilla is there is the smell of money,” The Hindu once exulted in the glory of the exotic orchid. “Ramamangalam is today perhaps the only village in the country where vanilla, the aromatic cash crop, is being cultivated in an organised, scientific manner,” the news paper known for its sober treatment, wrote excitedly overwhelmed by the success of the village. By 2003, the village had 75 hectares of vanilla while the total vanilla cultivated land in India was only 500 hectares. This included all the vanilla groves in Kerala, Tamilnadu, Tripura and Gujarat put together. But the story changed so fast and so worse that you will have a real tough time searching for a vanilla farmer in the village now. They have found it more scientific and economical

to remove the crop from their land and we must add, however, that they've done it in an organised manner.

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spices in the foreign market. The settlers were told that they should go for intensified and profit oriented agricultural methods instead of unscientif ic ways. Agricultural department and agri-development banks supported the cause and people started to move away from farming in the forest and semi-forest lands and Idukki saw the advent of mono culture. Big pepper farms and cardamom plantations replaced forest-cultivation. Cash crops decimated paddy and food crops. But the nemesis reached sooner than expected. An intensive shift in to cash crops made the farmers highly dependent on the foreign market and vulnerable to the volatile foreign trade. Meanwhile the monoculture experiment was taking its toll on the very basics of farming in the high ranges. Once the forest cover was removed, the sun reached directly in to the soil resulting in elementary changes that would eventually prove detrimental to the vegetation. Intensified production practices and

excessive use of plant protection chemicals over the past few decades have set in adverse impact on the ecology, production cost, soil health and sustainability of production.

Once thickly forested high ranges began to experience draught. Pepper plantations in the region were plagued by fatal infections and crops failed miserably. Cardomom also suffered consecutive droughts. Low yield and low price made the livelihood distressful.thickly forested high ranges began to expe r i ence d raugh t . Pepper plantations in the region were plagued by fatal infections and crops failed miserably. Cardomom also suffered consecutive droughts. Low yield and low price made the livelihood distressful.

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