Changes in the Cropping Pattern in Kerala-Some Evidence on Substitution of Coconut for Rice, 1960-61 to 1978-79

Some Evidence on Substitution of Coconut for Rice,
jeemol Unni This paper examines shifts in cropping pattern in Kerala over the past two decades It appears that garden-land crops (particularly coconut) have been gaining at the expense of wet-land crops (particularly paddy). Crop area data are, as discussed by the author, inadequate in some respects, but the broad con- elusion of a shift in cropping pattern holds even when the data inadequacies are accounted for. Also examined are the technical possibilities of substitution of coconut on paddy-growing lands.