Working Paper No. 220 AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT OF KERALA FROM 1800 AD to 1980 AD

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Working Paper No. 220
AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT OF KERALA
FROM 1800 AD to 1980 AD:
A SURVEY. OF STUDIES
B.A. PRAUSH*
"Reader, Department of Economics, (Dr. John Mathai centre)
University of Calicut and presently U.G.C. Fellow at
Centze for Development Stuc;.es.
CENTRE FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
-
ULLOOR, TRIVANDRUM 11
June 1987
A(RICULT"!lAL DEVELOFMENT OF KE' .' 'LA FRCM 1800 AD "o 1980 AD:
A. SURVEY OF STUDIES
This paper attempts to survey the published literature on
picultural development of Kerala covering a period between 1800 AD
nd 1980 AD. The Survey covers botn academic studies as well as
pvernment publications. The purpose of the survey is to highlight
'+nature and trends in literature and to identify areas which warrent
.
ether research kgri cult ura 1 development may be viewed from various
u
qles. We may see it in terms of structure of production relations
r in terms of productive forces, i .e., in terms of output, cropping
?ttern, techniques, trends in productivity etc. In our survey we
itw agricultural development in the second category i.e., productive
Cces. In order to get a connected picture of agricultural develop-
ct, we present the survey in a chronological order starting from the
th century. Among the erstwhile princely states of Travancore, Cochin,
blabar district and Kasargod taluk of South Canara district forming the
t@ sentd ay Kerala, our survey is confined only on Travancore and
labar. The survey is presented in five sections: I, agriculture
a 1800 AD; 11, agriculture between 1800 AD and 1860 AD; 111, agricul-
re between 1860 AD and 1930 AD; IV, agriculture from 1930 AD and
1956 AD; and V, agriculture from 1956 AD and 1980 AD.' In each section
lirst we present a brief review of developments in agriculture and the
pvey of literature is presented subsequently.
The erstwhile Malabar district of Madras Presidency compria
ing the northern region of present day Kerala, having an area of
about 6262 square miles was conquered by the British in 1792 andrrrs
under colonial rule till 1947. Malabar was a region richly endow84
with natural resources such as soil, climate, rainfall etc. fsvourtblm
2/
t o the cultivation of grain crops and plantation crops. Agriculture
was the chief economic activity of the people and provided livelih@l
to the entire population except for a few who were engaged in trade,
commerce, cotton weaving, carpentry, smithy, fishing etc. The crops
cultivated were paddy, coconut, tirecanut, pepper, cardamom, ginger,
jack fruit, mangoes, plantains etc. Paddy was the principal crop hi.
produced rice, the staple food, mainly meeting the domestic foodryui
ments. Paddy was cultivated in iiwlying wet lanc; and the cultivcti,
.
was mainly carried out with the help of rair 2xcept in a few placrc
it
i n Palghat region where small tanks and reseqvoirs were available.
Traditional farming implenents such as woodeq plough was used for wl-
g,
tivation. Coconut was the second major CrQ :, p. Coconut and coconut
products were used for domestic consumption as well as for exports.
Coconut and coconut products were the secoi7d largest export earner ef
Malabar accounting for about 37 per cent of the value of exports in
1804 AD. Pepper, the native crop of Malabar attracted foreigners k
Malabar from very early times. The power struggles waged by the
Portuguese, Dutch and English in the regiob were primarily with tho
objective of mnopolising pepper trade. By the beginning of the
19th Cectur) pepper was the sicql 12rgest. export .rner of Malabar
k/
accounting for 45 percent of the total value of exports.
NC do not have much information about t5? pr. ?uctivity of the
major crops. But from the available evidences we have to conclude that
the productivity of the crops was generally low. Among the agricul'tural
products, pepper, coconut and its byproducts, cardamom, ginger, timber
etc. were exported; and the aoricul tural products aucco unted for about
99 percent of the total value of exports in 1804 AD. Our information
rbeut the categories of livestock for the period is meagre. According
tr Buchanan, Bulls, Bullocks, Cows, male an'd female Buffaloes were the
El
important native cattle stock of Malabar. The native cattle were
feund to be of poor breed and smaller in size compared to the cattle
of Coimbatore and Mysore. Malabar was largely a nonmonetised economy
rnd most of the transactions that had taken place were by barter except
the transactions in trading centres. This along with the lower demand
!er agricultural products r e s ~ l t e din low prices for agricultural
The colonial policy of extracting the largest share of agricul-
Y 1_0/
tural produce as land tax; and strengthening the landlordism in Malabar
rrd adversely affected the cultivation. Besides, the policy of importing
large quantities of piece goods and other consumer goods discournged
,
the domestic Cottage industries. The policy of taxing skilled workers
luch as carpenters, ironsmi ths, toddy tappers, boatmen and implements
like looms, oilpresses, fishing nets, carts etc. also discouraged gene-
:ation of productive activities and employment outside the agricultural
12/
Icetor.
We may also brtef ly describe th,e agricultural situation which
cevai led in Travancore. The rerstwhi l e princely state of Travancore
f o r ~ i n gth e southern part of present day Ker~13,h aving an area of
7662 sousrcr niles. vcr: cr..:zwr:d ,v~thC ~ v ~ ~ r?~q-h~-' ~ll~j.p ~+coincd i-
'tions most suited for tile qro:itCI of a varicty of crops. On the
basis of physical features r.le mnv clividc Travancorc into three divi-
sions viz., low ltnci <ii~lsj.rin,; rid lznZ division and high land divi-
13j
sion. irgriculturrs was tile chief oconomic activity of the people ad
provided livelihood to the entire population except the few engaged
in religious prof cssions, rrnavlng ar,d spinning, pottery making, car-
pentry, masonry, smithy, trscle, -trrnsport, commerce e t ~ . The crops
cultivated were paddy, coconut, aracanut, pepper, ginger, jnck fruit,
mangoes, plantai~se tc. Pcdrfy, the principal crop was cultivated in
two paddy :rowing regions viz., "Atanad cnd Nanjar~adr egion were
In/
irrigation facilities were available. Cocc?ui;, was the second mjer
. .,,.I..:
crop, ar.? 2;;:. 2-1:. .. . .. c~~;ccntrntcidn low land and
midland dl isions. Besides usin it for dornestic -ansumption, cocanu:
I
and its byproducts vrerc cxportej. tcl foreign r.crkets. Pepper was anetla:.
major crop, and pc! ,I.~.!k c n cxportc.2 ta f;:-l,n nnrkets from wry
r.e-..l.
early times. A peculiar f c:.ture ~f cultivation of pepper vine was it;
smallscale nature of cul.tltfa.tion. The peasants grew a little pepper
vine in their ~ardenfz ncl alcr.!, with other crcps. hlonopolising pepper
trade was the primary ot5ect.i~c~f the ffareiqners who came to this
region anci 'ihc car liest re1;ltions b?t:vecn t.hc Sritish and Travancore
state wcrc estcblithcrl 08i the basis oi pcppcr contract. Due to the
importance of the crop, gover nmer t treated pepp6r, cardomom and other
spices as state rnonopo?.ies and the cultivators viere forced to sell
their products to governrent. By 1800 AD, Travancore was largely a
non monatised econory and rnqrct of t5c trrinsactions were made on barter
basis.
Compared to Ma: ~ S a rth e policies pursUzd in Travancore were
15/
diif e:er,i;, eventhough Travancore accepted Bri Liz'. cuzaralnty it1 'i795.
In the process of subjugation of chieftains and extending the terri-
torial boundaries, about one half of the cultivable land came under the
16/
ownership of the state by the end of the 18th Century. About half
af the government lands were in the hands of tenants, who enjoyed
17_/
fixity of tenure. The moderate land tax levied and the liberal policies
aimed a t safeguarding the interests of actual cultivators were helpful
for agricultural development. The earlier rulers also took keen in-
terest in irrigation and two dams were already constructed prior to
1800. Thus in Travancore, the material conditions as well as the
policies p~i'suedw ere much aiff erent from that of Malabar. This dif f-
erence was the basic fcctor which led to two different patterns of agri-
,
cultural development i n the two regions in later periods.
Having made o ti-ic.; raviclv of .;he agricultural situation, let us
attempt a survey of literature. The major source of information about
rgriculture of Malabar during the beginning of 19th century are official
reports, prepared by colonial government as part of the exercises of
administration. Most of the reports were on matters such as land revenue,
revenue administration, land tenures and other problems of colonial
administration. Amng them, the reports which give some infromation
about agriculture are: Report of Joint Commission (1551, Francis
Buchanan (164)~T homas Warden (1581, Walker (1 56) and Thackery (157)
The report by Buchanan, who visisted Malabar in 1800 AD a t the instance
of the colonial government, is the mast important report which gives
graphic
Us a lot of informatian about Malabar. The report presents~accounto f
the statc of .the LCGiiOriTj ..il;d a~c-iet)I; L 2vciiir.g in 1800 AD. The
report gives detailed aescriptive account of iand ownership structure,
land tenure, land tax, crops cultivated, cultivation practices, irri-
gation, cattlestock, trade, cottage industries etc. From Bcchanan,
one gets an excellent account of the agrari'an relations existing amny
landlord, tenant and agricultural slaves.
Though we have a number of historical works on Malabar coveriq
the period, only very few have dealt with agriculture. A study which.
makes some observation about agriculture is that of A.Dasgupta (1 08).
Though the study focuses on the struggles of foreign powers to gain
control over pepper trade between 1740 and 1800, the study gives a
brief accou-t of pepper cultivati~?,t he .role of traders and policieg
of native rulers on pepper cultivation.
Compared-to Malabar, the writings on Travancore are very few.
We get a rough picture about the -:~jricult~lra~?i tuccionfr om
A.P. Ibrahim Ku~ju( 193), Samuel Matoer (212, 213), Nagam Aiya (257 k
259). Ibrahim Kunju, while tracing the developments in administration
during the 18th Century, brief ly describes the stat o of the Travanmre
economy. The study gives a brief account about revenue administration,
state trading of pepper and irrigation works executed during 18th
Century. Samuel Matear, an English missionary, who conducted missiamr
activities i n Travancoro for about 25 years has twitten about the
social cultural 3nd cconouic aspects of major castes i n Travancore.
The book also gives a brief descriptive account of tho social and
economic conditions of Travancore during the beginning of the 19th
Century. Nagam Ai'ya' s gazetteer .on Travancore, is perhaps, tho basic
source from which we get inFormatioerdetCfng t o agriculture,
irrigation a nd general economic conditions.
I1
Asriculture between 1800 and 1860
During the period there had been a gradual increase in culti-
w
vation of some of the major crops of Malobar. k significant deve-
lopment was the introduction of coffee cultivation in Wynad by around
20/
1840 a n d t ho starting of teak planting by colonial government.-
The government had exempted coffee plantations from land tax to
encourage Coffee planting. During the early years of planting,
Coffee crops faced a set back due to problems such as wrong selection
ef soil and locality, ignorant and inefficient methods of planting,
lack of roads in hilly places and difficulties experienced in procur-
2lJ
ing land for cultivation. But the cultivation has expanded since
I
1845 as evident from the increase in the exports of coffee. The
change i~ the composition of ex .rts of agricultr-a1 products during
this period gives us an idea about the broad changes that had taken
place. During this period .pepper lost its glory as the single largest
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axport earner of Malabar. By 1860's coconut and its byproducts like
copra, coir, coir products and coconut o i l accounted for 57 percent
9
of the total va1u.e of export This implies the gradual development
of agro processing industries like coir, coir products and o i l mills.
ing this period, the prices prevailing for most of the agri-
cultural products remained very low and stagnant except the decade
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af 1850's. In the case of livestock, there had occurred an increase
in its number since the 1820's due to the increase in rearing of
sheep and goats in regions where Mappila muslims lived and also due
-:ram
to import of other categories of livestock outside. On the
whole, except the encouragement given to coffee, the policy measures
of the colonial government were not a t a l l favourable to agricultna1
development. The policy measures were: the revision of land tax in
1805 and consequent reduction in share of produce of the cultivatiq
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tenant; the wrong interprctation of the various tenures by the CIurt
i n 1856 resulting in the loss of security of tenures for the cultint-
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ing tenant; the total neglect of irrigation and infrastructural works
@
like road, inland waterways; the import of m i l l made cotton yarn,
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cloth and other products; and the taxation of skilled workers and
3_1_/
productive implements. Recognising jaynmi as the absolute owner ef
land in 1818 and treating cultivable waste land and forest land as
private property of janmis by Colc :ial gbvernnent discouraged land
transfers and land leasing to cultivating ten-nts for reclamation and
expansion of cultivation.
Compared to Malabar, rapid chnngtg: had taken place in Tramneere
!
during the period. Available evidences $uggest that during the perid
there had been a steady iccrensc i n the area and production under paddy
Besides, .meeting the domestic requirements, paddy was exported since
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1840's. The tax concessions and other encouragements given for reclh
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mation of land in 1818 encouraged recl8mation of land from Vembanad
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backwater for rice cultivation since 1839's. Thc measure also enceur-
aged the cultivation of cultivable waste lands. Coconut being a remu-
nerative as well as export oriented crop; there had been rapid increase
35./
i n area under 'the crop during the period. Coconut cultivation began
t o spread to waste lands, hanks of riveis, !*.packwaters, velleys and
.
h i1 l slope Due to the low mnnt alv procurement rice, the pepper
,
cultivation was discouraged during the period. But the abolition
of pepper mnopoly ir. 1860 and grantin5 tax oxe;nption to pepper cul-
36/
tiv ation, encourased pepper cultivation.
Introduction of crops, tapioca and coffee were the major deve-
1ap.ments that had taken placc during the period. Tapioca, which was
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introduced by around 183Ots, began to spread rapidly in Southern
and Central Travancore, and later emerged as a major food crop by
18810's. Tapioca began to be used as a substitute for rice by the poorer
sections because of the rise in price of rice since 1860's. Though
coffee was introduced during the early parts of 19th Century, its cul-
tivation in large scale was started dnly since 1840's. According to
t* the earlie'st account on livestock, Travancore had about 3.82 lakhs
z!/
cattle including Buffaloes and 27,000 gheep and goats in 1820's.
I
Ward and ~oni)ern ttributed clizzttic cok!itions, ignorance of cattle
rearing amon$ the people, inadequacy of, the food given and poor breed
as factors co to poor yield ftom cattle. Expansion of irri-
vation a department to execute public works and
constructing a channel to increase the brea under irrigatfon during
40/
1830's were the other notable developmellts.
.
We may conclude our discussion with the following observation
hmpared to Malabar, Travancore witnessed rapid changes in agriculture
mainly due to the f avourable conditions drekted by governmental measures.
The measures are: pcquisition of land bq'long\ng t o 378 wealthy temples
in 1812 thereby brtnging about a less tHan twb thirds of the cultivated
area under the ownbrship of the state,w govetnrnent regulation in 1818