Agrarian Transformation and Smallholder Adaptation in Kerala's Vegetable Economy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55578/jedip.2609.014Keywords:
Agrarian Transformation, Agricultural Modernization, Vegetable Farming, Climate Resilience, Institutional TransformationAbstract
Kerala's vegetable economy has undergone substantial agrarian transformation during the past three decades as technological innovation, institutional restructuring, climate adaptation and market integration have progressively reshaped smallholder agriculture. Existing scholarship has largely examined these dimensions independently, leaving limited understanding of how their interaction influences the restructuring of vegetable production and rural livelihoods. This study investigates agrarian transformation in Kerala's vegetable economy through an interdisciplinary documentary analysis that synthesises official statistics, Agricultural Census reports, Kerala State Planning Board publications, Department of Agriculture Development and Farmers' Welfare reports, Kerala Agricultural University publications, district agricultural contingency plans, Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam (VFPCK) documents and contemporary empirical research. Documentary evidence was comparatively analysed under five analytical dimensions: structural transformation, technological modernization, climate adaptation, institutional transformation and market integration. The findings show that Kerala's vegetable economy has shifted from dispersed homestead cultivation to a more organised production system supported by coordinated institutional intervention, scientific farming and decentralised agricultural governance. The predominance of small and marginal holdings has directed modernization towards intensive cultivation, protected agriculture, precision farming and resource-efficient production rather than large-scale mechanisation. Climate variability has accelerated the integration of adaptive farming practices with institutional support systems, while market restructuring through producer organisations, decentralised marketing networks and value-chain initiatives has strengthened the participation of smallholders in organised agricultural markets despite persistent disparities in infrastructure and regional implementation. The analysis demonstrates that agrarian transformation in Kerala is driven less by technological change alone than by the institutional integration of technology, ecological adaptation and market governance within a smallholder production system. By advancing an integrated analytical framework linking structural change, adaptive capacity and livelihood resilience, the study contributes to contemporary debates on sustainable agricultural transformation in environmentally vulnerable smallholder economies.
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Data Availability Statement
The study is based exclusively on publicly available secondary sources, including official government publications, international databases, policy reports, parliamentary documents, and institutional reports. The datasets analysed are available from their respective publishers, and other publicly accessible official sources cited in the references. No new datasets were generated during this study.
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