Mapping the socio-economic changes in the lower Cauvery delta

Subject :Geography

Section: Mapping

Context:

In 2018, the Foundation for Agrarian Studies launched a project to study agrarian relations in the lower Cauvery delta with a special focus on two villages– Palakurichi and Venmani.

Details:

Both the villages are at the “tail-end” of the Cauvery irrigation system, and thus are deeply affected when there is a fall in Cauvery water supply.
The lower Cauvery delta was known for its cultivation of rice and agricultural surplus.

Key changes:

During Green Revolution, the region changed from single crop region to a double cropped region, but again in 2018, the region has changed into single rice crop region.
The delta has declined as a hub of rice cultivation in the State, coinciding with the fall in the availability of water, caused mainly by changes in water-sharing arrangements for cauvery river between Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.
Reasons for decline in crop production- Uneven supply of water from the Cauvery, Agriculture and irrigation policy failure, crop unsuitablity, lack of modernisation of micro-irrigation system, events of drought and flood (due to cyclone Gaja).
Acute inequality persists among the agricultural workers and landlords.
The largest class in the villages is a class of wage labour, engaged in multiple agricultural and non-agricultural jobs.