COMMERCIAL PLANTATIONS - A stupid idea from the WEST !!! ????

Farmers involved in commercial production of crops like tea, coffee and rubber have been using pesticides such as DDT, after these crops were introduced during the British rule.

“Expansion of commercial plantations in Western Ghats has led to fragmentation of forest, soil erosion, degradation of river ecosystems and toxic contamination of the environment,” the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel report said.The report has been prepared by a panel headed by Madhav Gadgil. It was submitted to the Ministry in August last year."

The Hindu : Sci-Tech / Environment : Expert panel for curtailing commercial plantations in Western Ghats

WE HAD BEEN EXPORTING SPICES TO EUROPE & ARABIA  WITHOUT RESORTING TO PLANTING ON A COMMERCIAL SCALE !!!!!

Work - Modern Myths about the Same

Kerala/Malabar Coast- Description by Bartolomeu Dias (1451-1500)

 “Having kept as close to the land as possible, the whole coast of Malabar appeared before us in the form of a green amphitheatre. At one time we discovered a district entirely covered with cocoa-nut-trees; and immediately after, a river winding through a delightful vale, at the bottom of which discharged itself into the sea. In one place appeared a multitude of people employed in fishing;  in another, a snow-white church bursting forth to the view from amidst the thick-leaved trees. While we were enjoying these delightful scenes with the early morning, a gentle  breeze, which blew from the shore, perfumed the air around us with the agreeable smell wafted from the cardamom, pepper, beetel and other aromatic herbs and plants”  -Bartolomeo, p.425

http://www.wmcarey.edu/carey/buchanan2/43.jpg

Dias was a Portugese Explorer. The last sentence in the above paragraph is quite interesting.

The question I wish to pose is, how could Kerala , say approximately  250 years before our birth could have supplied a large continent like Europe,(and also Arabia) with a variety of spices.?? On a commercial scale ? This was at a time when there were NO commercial plantations (similar to the one introduced by European planters) in Kerala.

And the wealth of Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple indicates that we had a  TRADE SURPLUS.

It seems, the people of this land had 'good-life' with minimal work and that they could maintain a surplus. Hard-work is a modern canard.