Agriculture

Agriculture and its allied sectors are fundamental pillars for any economy, playing a pivotal role in ensuring food security, alleviating poverty, creating livelihoods, and stimulating growth in both industrial and service sectors. As per the Government of India's Economic Survey for 2023- 24, the agricultural sector provides essential livelihood support to approximately 42.3% of the nation's population and contributes about 18.2% to India’s GDP at current prices. To achieve comprehensive poverty eradication and foster truly inclusive growth, it's imperative that agricultural activities are closely aligned with the targets set forth by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Kerala's Distinct Agricultural Landscape and the Imperative for Climate Resilience

Kerala's agricultural sector presents a unique case, largely defined by its small landholdings and highly diverse agro-climatic conditions, which create an ideal environment for cultivating a wide array of crops, including valuable plantation crops, cash crops, spices, and essential food crops. However, the state's agriculture has navigated a challenging decade. Factors such as climate change, increasingly unpredictable rainfall patterns, and frequent flooding have significantly impacted performance. Furthermore, limited crop diversification, rapid urbanization, a noticeable migration of labour to non-agricultural jobs, and persistent labour shortages have all contributed to a subdued agricultural output.

In direct response to these growing vulnerabilities, the Government of Kerala has intensified its efforts to promote climate-resilient farming. The State's agricultural development initiatives, particularly under the 14th Five-Year Plan, are strategically focused on a farm plan-based development approach, prioritizing integrated farming systems to enhance overall crop productivity and reignite agricultural growth across Kerala.

Among the key Initiatives and strategies for Climate-Resilient Farming in the state, Kerala Climate Resilient Agri-Value Chain Modernization (KERA) Project is a landmark initiative. The World Bank has approved a $200 million project aimed at significantly bolstering climate- resilient farming and modernizing agribusiness in Kerala. This project is designed to benefit approximately 400,000 farmers by improving their access to climate-smart agricultural practices.

Share of agriculture and allied sectors in GVA and GSVA

The share of agriculture and allied sectors in the country’s total Gross Value Added (GVA) has been declining in the last decade. At the national-level, the share of agriculture and allied sectors in the GVA at constant prices of 2011-12 has declined from 16.5 per cent in 2014-15 to 14.5 per cent (P) in 2023-24. In Kerala, during the same period, it declined from 11.9 per cent to 8.3 (Q) The yearly change at the national levels was from 15.3 per cent in 2022-23 to 14.5 per cent in 2023-24. The corresponding change in Kerala was from 8.51 per cent (P) to 8.3 per cent (Q). Despite the declining share in GSVA the agricultural sector of Kerala has grown reasonably well especially during the post-Covid-19 years. The annual growth recorded in 2023-24 was significantly higher at 4.65 (Q) per cent.

Share of agriculture and allied sectors in GVA/GSVA National and State-level, at constant prices of 2011-12

Growth rate per annum in Gross Value Added in agriculture and allied sectors in Kerala, 2014-15 to 2023-24

Land use Pattern

As per the land use data, 2023-24 of the Department of Economics and Statistics, out of the total geographical area of 38.9 lakh ha, total cropped area was 25.4 lakh ha and the net area sown was 19.7 lakh ha. Land put to non-agricultural use was 6.1 lakh ha and area under forest cover was 10.8 lakh ha

Between 2022-23 and 2023-24, the total cropped area is increased by 0.8 per cent. The area sown more than once is increased by 7.5 per cent in 2023-24 over the previous year. The current fallow showed a decline of 9.4 per cent. But the net sown area of the State registered a decline of 0.9 per cent. The area under cultivable waste land reported an increase in 2023-24 by 7.5 per cent over 2022-23. The area under land put to non-agricultural uses, fallow other than current fallow, and area under barren and uncultivated land also recorded an increase in 2023-24 by 2.8 per cent, 2.6 per cent, and 0.2 per cent respectively.

Cropping Pattern

According to the Department of Economics and Statistics, Cropping Intensity (CI) of the State in 2023-24 was 128.6 per cent. Coconut constituted the major share of the total cropped area with 30.2 per cent followed by rubber with 21.6 per cent. Food crops comprising of rice, pulses, tapioca, ragi, small millets, sweet potato and other tubers constituted 9.8 per cent and plantation crops such as tea, coffee, rubber and cardamom constituted 28 per cent of the total cropped area. Rice constituted 7.1 per cent of the total cropped area as per the latest available data.

Agricultural Marketing

A network of wholesale and retail markets operating in both rural and urban areas facilitates the marketing of agricultural commodities. Local market outlets are placed at various levels, facilitating marketing of the local farm produce with different modes of aggregation, either aggregating from farmers or using a cluster-based business model.

The Department of Agriculture initiated marketing of the agricultural products under a unified brand name Keralagro to intensify the marketing of various agricultural products produced by farmers, FPOs, farm groups, other farmer associations and co-operatives, thereby increasing the income of farmers and supplying agricultural products to the consumers at fair price.

VFPCK contributes significantly to strengthening the agricultural marketing system of the State through various activities including strengthening the rural farmer markets, formation of new bulking points and collection centers, and providing infrastructure facilities and managerial support to the existing farmer markets. Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) is an organization under the Department of Agriculture, GoK, working for the promotion of agribusiness for the benefit of farmers and entrepreneurs by providing necessary linkages for the establishment and running of successful agribusiness. Formation and promotion of Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and promotion of micro, small and medium agro-processing units are the major schemes implemented by SFAC in Kerala. FPOs being an appropriate institutional mechanism to mobilize farmers and build their capacity for collective production and marketing, the State Government focuses on providing a favourable environment for the creation of new FPOs by providing necessary technical and managerial skills along with marketing infrastructure facilities.

Crop Insurance Schemes

The crop insurance schemes under implementation in the State are the State Crop Insurance Scheme and Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS).The State Crop Insurance covers losses caused by natural calamities such as drought, flood, landslide, earthquake, sea erosion, storm, hurricane, lightning, wild life menace, and forest fire. A total of 27 major agricultural crops namely coconut, arecanut, rubber, cashew, banana, tapioca, pineapple, pepper, cardamom, ginger, turmeric, coffee, tea, cocoa, ground nut, sesamum, vegetables, clove, betel vine, pulses, tubers, sugarcane, tobacco, paddy, nutmeg, mango, and millets are covered under the scheme.

The Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) is implemented by Agriculture Insurance Company of India Ltd. (AIC). Under the scheme, each notified Panchayat is linked to one Automatic Weather Station (AWS) or Reference Weather Station and claims are settled for adverse weather incidence on the basis of weather data from the respective weather stations for each notified crop. A total of 170 AWSs have been installed for the scheme in the State. The crops notified under the scheme are paddy, banana, pepper, ginger, turmeric, pineapple, cardamom, arecanut, nutmeg, sugarcane, cashew, clove, cocoa, coconut, mango, millets, potato, pulses, vegetables, rubber, tapioca, tubers, and tea for Kharif season and paddy, banana, cashew, mango, sugarcane, pineapple, potato, vegetables, cardamom, clove, cocoa, coconut, coffee, ginger, millets, nutmeg, pepper, pulses, rubber, tapioca, tubers, turmeric, and tea for Rabi season.

Rainfall Data

Rainfall patterns are crucial for Kerala's agriculture. Kerala's rainfall in 2024-25 exhibited high variability, underscoring its vulnerability: Southwest Monsoon (June - September 2024): Ended with an overall 13% deficit for the state, despite an early onset (May 30, 2024). Four districts (Idukki, Wayanad, Ernakulam, Alappuzha) experienced significant deficiencies. Northeast Monsoon (October - December 2024): Registered a slight 1% deficit, being largely near-normal but with localized heavy spells. Winter Season (January - February 2025): Recorded a significant 183% excess above the LPA, an unusual and wet period. Pre-Monsoon (March - May 2025): Concluded with a massive 116% excess over normal. This was driven primarily by exceptionally heavy rains in May 2025, further compounded by an early onset of the Southwest Monsoon .This early and intense rainfall led to flash floods and rising river levels across several districts. This erratic rainfall pattern, characterized by deficits in key monsoon periods and substantial excesses in the lean seasons, reinforces the urgent need for robust water management strategies and adaptive agricultural practices to mitigate climate risks and secure livelihoods in Kerala.

Livestock Sector

The livestock sector is a vital part of the global food system and economy, and it supports the livelihoods of many people. This sector contributes to food security, nutrition, poverty alleviation, employment and economic growth. Livestock holdings are a crucial asset and safety net for the poor, especially for women and income-poor groups and source of nourishment for billions of rural and urban households. Livestock in India are raised as an integral component of mixed farming systems. The Government provides substantial allocations to improve the sector’s performance with respect to productivity, disease control, fodder production, value addition, and scientific breeding practices.Milk, meat and egg are the major livestock products in the State. The production of these three livestock products during 2018-19 to 2023-24 is shown in Figure.

Fisheries Sector

The Fisheries sector plays a significant role in the economy in terms of its contribution to growth and development. The sector provides food and nutritional security as well as employment opportunities to a considerable number of our population. India is the second largest fish producing country in the world and accounts for 8.92 per cent of the global fish production. The sector has been one of the major contributors of foreign exchange earnings, with India being one of the leading seafood exporting nations in the world. Kerala with a coastline of 590 km and an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 2.18 lakh sq.km has a significant marine fisheries sector. Marine fisheries play an important role in the economy of the State. Kerala recorded 5.81 lakh tonnes of marine fish production in 2024 and stood at third position in the country preceded by Tamilnadu and Karnataka. Due to climate change and anthropogenic activities such as juvenile fishing, overfishing, and unscientific fishing the catch of marine fisheries showed a declining trend in the last decade. The inland fish production increased in 2023-24 due to the introduction of diversified and innovative fish farming practices, across the State. The inland fish production in 2023-24 was 2.51 lakh MT which is higher than the previous year. Kerala is the third largest seafood exporting State in terms of quantity and second in terms of value of exports. The export of marine products from Kerala has shown an increase from 2015-16 onwards.