This document provides information about Adat Gramapanchayath in Thrissur district of Kerala. It summarizes that the Gram Panchayat has a population of 29,336 people across 18 wards covering an area of 23.02 square kilometers. The main crops grown are rice, coconut, arecanut, cashew, banana and various spices. The document then focuses on kole lands, unique flooded rice fields in the area. High use of pesticides in these lands was polluting drinking water and impacting health. An initiative was started to promote organic farming in kole lands to reduce costs and protect the environment. Activities involved educating farmers and providing organic inputs. Monitoring shows reduced pesticide residues and

3. ADAT GRAMAPANCHAYATH

4. General Information
 District Thrissur
 Block Puzhakkal
 No. of wards 18
 Area 23. 02 sq.km

5. N
ADAT GRAMAPANCHAYATH

6. Population
 Total Population 29336
Male 14614
Female 14722
 Population density 1018 /sq.km
 Scheduled Castes
Total 2340
Male 1144
Female 1196

7.  Total no. of families 8967
 No. of BPL households 2400
 No. of APL households 6567
 No. of SC colonies 5

8. Geography
 Classification based on MSL
Lowland 1537 ha
Midland 735 ha
 Soil types
Laterite
Red loam
Alluvial
Clay

9. Major Crops and Resources
 Rice 1100 ha
 Coconut 285 ha
 Arecanut 198 ha
 Cashew 25 ha
 Banana 52 ha
 Tapioca 32 ha
 Pepper 12 ha
 Nutmeg 10 ha
 Tuber crops 16 ha
 Vegetable 26 ha
 Ginger 4 ha
 Turmeric 6 ha

10. Paddy Land Statistics
 Total Paddy land area 1200.62 ha
 Kole land area 1100 .62 ha
 Nonkole land area 99 ha
 No. of Kole farming ‘ Padavu’ s 13
 No. of paddy farmers 3638

11. Farmer Statistics
 Total no. of farmers 4384
Marginal ( < 1 ha) 3484
Small ( 1 -2 ha) 600
Medium ( 2-4 ha) 300
 No. of SC farmers 1250

12. Special Features of Kole lands
 Flood plains of Karuvannur, Kechery rivers
 Submerged for 6 months in a year
 0.5 to 1.5 m lower than MSL
 Environmentally sensitive Ramsar sites
 Major agricultural crop is Rice
 High productivity

13. Kole Lands

14. Kole Lands

15. Origin of this Project
 Presence of pesticide residues in drinking water
 High incidence of cancer, skin diseases and
other health problems

16. Problems identified
 Heavy use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers
in the Kole lands
 Linkage of Kole land water bodies with
drinking water sources
 High cost of cultivation
 Damage to natural flora and fauna including
migratory birds.

17. Reasons behind the problems
 Rice production in Kole lands being a high
income activity, farmers are reluctant to take
risks
 Shortage of agricultural labour
 Kole land cultivation involves a continuous
process of pumping water in and out of fields
to a network of channels which have direct
connections with drinking water sources

18. Methodology used for assessment
Chemical analysis of drinking water
Surveys conducted among local people
Discussions done with farmers

19. Strategy setting
 Creating awareness among
 Farmers
 Agricultural labourers
 Ward members
 Agricultural input dealers
 Local people
 Providing financial assistance for
 Organic manures
 Organic pest and disease control measures
 Trainings

20. Goals decided
 Reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and
weedicides
 Use adequate quantity of lime to reduce acidity
of soil
 Increase the use of organic manures
 Avoid the use of chemical pesticides by
adopting biocontrol methods

21. Biocontrol in Rice

22. Biocontrol in Rice

23. Biocontrol in Rice

24. Biocontrol in Rice

25. Biocontrol in Rice

26. Biocontrol in Rice

27. Activities
 Formation of “Jalasabhas”
 Involvement of NGOs like THANAL
 Site visits by agricultural scientists and
department officials
 Farmer Scientist interactions
 Procurement of organic inputs

28. Monitoring
Field visits by department
officials
Monitoring by “Padavu”
committees

29. Results
 No traces of pesticide residues in drinking
water
 Reduced the cost of cultivation of rice
 Population of beneficial organisms in the fields
increased
 Reduction in health problems among farmers
and agricultural labourers
 Higher price for the organically produced rice

30. Other impacts
 Organically produced rice was procured by the
Kudumbasree and the brand name ‘Adat Rice’ fetched
a premium price
 Panchayath level waste disposal was linked with the
project and a vermicompost unit is functioning which
converts organic waste to manure
 Organic based cultivation is now extended to
vegetables, tuber crops etc.
 Fish culture has been taken up in the network of
channels surrounding the kole lands which is
providing an additional income

31. Adat Rice

32. Vermicompost Unit

33. Present Status
 Farmers are adopting biocontrol methods even
without any financial assistance
 Use chemical fertilizers and weedicides have
been drastically reduced

34. Threats
 Since there is no special procurement for
organic products, there is difficulty in
maintaining a normal price range.
 Demand for organic food products is still very
limited

35. Thank You