ABSTRACT
Lowland valleys throughout the Western Ghats region of India have traditionally been used for rice cultivation due to the availability of water and conducive soil. Kerala is a high rainfall area blessed with two monsoons—southwest and northeast. The entire year’s precipitation takes place in a short span of time with heavy downpours. Due to the steep slopes and gravelly loam texture of the uplands most of the water reaches the intervening valleys as surface runoff or as sub-surface flow. The valleys then absorb this water and cushion its flow. After saturation in the valleys, water is released to the lowlands, helping to maintain water tables and enrich water bodies. Paddy is a water loving crop, and as the only crop which can survive the marshy conditions during the monsoon months its cultivation is regarded as the only sustainable agricultural land use. As an agroecosystem, the rice field provides a range of additional tangible and intangible services to the local community. These include food production, providing water for irrigation and for survival, microorganisms essential for soil health and land productivity, checking soil erosion, paving the way to genetic diversity, enhancing associated biodiversity, and sheltering species of food, fodder and medicinal value. The functions and value of a rice field depends upon its location, adjacent environment, water source and quality, biological diversity etc and, most importantly, management. Yet difficulties in converting or finding markets for these services means that the farmers who are instrumental in maintaining ecosystem services do not benefit economically. For the most part, the non-marketable benefits accrued from rice fields are enjoyed by the community as a whole.
