TRADE UNIONISM IN KERALA 43 ploughing one acre ofVirippu land, 2.40 hours for Mundakan as against 15 pairs of bullocks required for one acre ofVirippu and 18 pairs for one acre of Mundakan". (pp 28-29) The table quoted below (p 26) also indicates that the farmers can save an enormous amount by switching from bullock labour to tractor ploughing. SAVINGS OF RESOURCES PER ACRE Rs. Traditional ploughing cost per acre 264.00 Tractor-ploughing cost per acre 67.00 Saving per acre on account of tractor use 197.00 On the basis of the figures from the study, we could also make some rough estimates of the number of tractors required to plough the total area under paddy in Alathur, Chittoor and Palghat taluks. If we assume that the tractors could be operated at the rate of 10 hours a day for 70 days in both the seasons the number of tractors required to plough 68,000 hectares under Virippu (Autumn) and 55,000 hectares under Mundakan (Winter) in the three taluks (figures obtained from crop cutting survey reports op.cit. for 1971) should work out to 1150. This region as we have already noticed had about 850 tractors by July 1975. 8ti Between 1961 and 1971, the number of agricultural labourers in the three taluks of Alathur, Chittoor and Palghat increased by 39 per cent, while during the same time the population increased by 21 per cent. It is also the case that the number of people who reported as cultivators declined by 18 per cent in these taluks during the same decade. ALATHUR, CHITTOOR AND PALGIIAT TALUKS, 1961 AND 1971 1961 1971 Percentage mr lease Population 809 985 978 736 20.83 Agricultural labourers 140129 191723 38.96 Cultivators 54276 44628 —17.78 SOURCE: Census 1961 and 1971, District Handbook of Palghaf, op.cit. 36 Currently it is very difficult to obtain reliable data on the actual distribution of land holdings in Palghat. There are numerous instances of land being partitioned into small benami holdings to avoid the ceiling laws incorporated into the land reform legislations. Moreover since the coming of the graded procurement levy system in Kerala in 1974, there has been a noticeable increase in the partitioning of paddy lands to bring each individual holding below the exempted limit. This trend is clearly indicated by the fact that between 1971-72 and 1974-75 in the three taluks of Alathur, Chittoor and Palghat, out of a total area of 117,567 hectares under rice, the number of holdings of size less than two acres has increased from 26,209 to 42,883 with a corresponding increase in the area from 26,034 to 43,194 hectares. (Figures collected from the Department of Civil Supplies, Government of Kerala, Trivandrum.)