Argo products left affected in Kerala as the climate turns dry

New Delhi, Thursday, August 23, In the last two decades, the climate in Kerala has turned dry from wet. The variation in rainfall during the monsoon months of June and July has led to rise in temperature and change in climate. These changes in weather have proven to be detrimental for Kerala agricultural products such as coconut, Cardamom, Black pepper and cashew. This has affected the production and productivity of crops.

In the case of coconut, there has been a drop of nearly 1.6% in total production. The heavy shower spells in the non-intense months of August or September have affected the crops which need to get the rainfall at an appropriate time. The production has been stagnating with a 2% decline in production.

Cardamom has been hit by dry spells that have been happening regularly. The production and productivity of cardamom have been affected due to these aberrations in weather.

The changing temperatures in the otherwise tropical climate have resulted in such sharp variation in the production of Black pepper.  The farming of Black pepper has come down by 24 percent during the last nine years.

For Cashew, there is a possibility of cut in total production by 60 percent in Kochi, the major Cashew producer district in Kerala. The low yield of cashew has been attributed to the change in weather as the crop is highly weather sensitive.