Some Aspects of Agrarian Change in Kerala

This article discusses the important features of the post land reforms agrarian relations in Kerala. The first aspect of contemporary land relations in Kerala is the increasing concentration of land in the hands of the rich. It is also seen that there is a marked decline in the proportion of households who directly depend on agriculture for livelihood. The second aspect of Kerala’s post land reforms agrarian relations is concerned with the land concentration and land grabbing in the plantation sector. Kerala’s big plantations quietly and frequently engage in land grabbing which is similar to the land grabbing happening in Latin American and African continents. The third aspect covered in this article is all about the changing class–caste nexus in Kerala’s occupational structure. Caste is no longer a major determining factor of occupations as was the case in the pre-land reform era. Land reforms could significantly break the traditional caste–class nexus.