End of traditional farming ruins Attapadi
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Indigenous
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ATTAPADI: A full stop on their indigenous
farming practice may have contributed to the deteriorating life
conditions, especially worrying rate of infant mortality, among Attapadi
tribals.
In the last 100 days, there were 18 deaths due to severe malnutrition. Last year, 15 malnutrition deaths were reported from the area where 172 Anganwadi Integrated Child Development service (ICDS) centres, responsible for monitoring nutritional and health status of infants, exist.
That the increase in infant mortality rates coincides with destruction of traditional models of agriculture is more worrying. A majority of the tribal families used to cultivate nutritional crops like ragi, corn pulses and vegetables without any government support. Organic farming practices were followed and the harvest insulated them from starvation and anemic diseases. But in the last decade, this farming practice declined rapidly due to massive deforestation, plummeting water tables and shifting of cultivation from food crops to cash crops.
This turned the area barren and unproductive denying any means of sustenance to 182 hamlets. An RTI reply stated that 90% of the 894 deaths reported between January 1, 2011, and June 6, 2012, comprised youth aged between 30 and 45.
The fact that these deaths are happening in a state that boasts of an average life span of 71 years highlights the level of negligence and callousness on part of state planners towards this tribal block.
In the last 100 days, there were 18 deaths due to severe malnutrition. Last year, 15 malnutrition deaths were reported from the area where 172 Anganwadi Integrated Child Development service (ICDS) centres, responsible for monitoring nutritional and health status of infants, exist.
That the increase in infant mortality rates coincides with destruction of traditional models of agriculture is more worrying. A majority of the tribal families used to cultivate nutritional crops like ragi, corn pulses and vegetables without any government support. Organic farming practices were followed and the harvest insulated them from starvation and anemic diseases. But in the last decade, this farming practice declined rapidly due to massive deforestation, plummeting water tables and shifting of cultivation from food crops to cash crops.
This turned the area barren and unproductive denying any means of sustenance to 182 hamlets. An RTI reply stated that 90% of the 894 deaths reported between January 1, 2011, and June 6, 2012, comprised youth aged between 30 and 45.
The fact that these deaths are happening in a state that boasts of an average life span of 71 years highlights the level of negligence and callousness on part of state planners towards this tribal block.
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