Indigenous pokkali farming and its socio-ecological context in Kerala. Pokkali is a salt toleranr rice cultivated in coastal area of kerala.

1. • Pokkali Indigenous Cultivation - Ecological and Social Context
BY
Aswathy Mohan
PH.D Scholar, Central University of Tamil Nadu
Email-aswathygayu@gmail.com

2. Introduction
• Wetlands – “Kidneys of Earth”-Wetlands –habitats, source of drinking
water and for feeding, resting and shelter for social interactions of
non human organisms (Anson and Pavithran, 2013)
• Kerala has the largest area under wetlands (Nayar and Nayar, 1997).
• The majority of the wetlands of Kerala are brackish; however, there
are also a few freshwater wetlands(Nair and Salin, 2010).

8. Indigenous farming systems- Global context
• Indigenous farming refers to the practice of growing crops with the
use of locally available resources devoid of any external inputs.
• Indigenous knowledge about plant genetic resources is an invaluable
tool in the search for new ways to conserve and use these resources
to benefit local communities.
• It is an age-old method of farming developed by traditional agrarians
for making food, fodder, and fiber, through their constant interaction
with nature and natural resources(Kumar et al., 2009).
• It is a Community-oriented farming system

9. • Traditional farming is an environmentally sustainable, self-reliant
farming style (Kumar et al., 2009).
• Enhanced viable farming practices(Thurston, 2019)
• The management strategies adopted by the farmers are diverse
across the globe, due to the difference in indigenous knowledge,
acquired by the generations of inhabitants, through their close
contact with nature, for developing their unique cultivation system
(Kumar et al., 2009).

10. • Indigenous knowledge is unique to each ethnic groups and it passes
orally or through practices by the elder people in the
society(Thurston, 2019)
• Rights for Protection of Indigenous farming and knowledge-the
Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001, the
Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act
1999, etc.

11. Major sustainable indigenous farming
practices in the world
• 1. Agroforestry
• 2. Crop Rotations
• 3. Mixed-/Inter-cropping
• 4. Polyculture
• 5. Water Harvesting

12. E.g. Of Traditional farming systems
• Wetlands Bheries/Bhasabhada of West Bengal, Khazan of Goa, Gazani
of Karnataka, Pokkali of Central Kerala and Kaipad of North Kerala are
such traditional integrated farming systems(NAFP,2016).
• Jhuming- North east India
• Pokkali, Kaipad- Kerala
• Forest gardens- Humid tropic areas
• Three sister farming method in USA- Corn, beans and squash to
create a polyculture that feeds and protects the soil and controls
pests (Anson and Pavithran, 2013).

13. Origin, genesis and development of pokkali
• Saline tolerant paddy cultivation and traditional capture based
aquaculture in coastal wetlands are practiced in many places
especially in tropical countries(NAFP,2016).
• ‘Pokkali’ is a saline resistant rice variety(Nair and Salin, 2010)
• Pokkali means the one who stays tall (Malayalam) .
• Pokkali is internationally accepted as gene donor for salt tolerance in
rice (Sasidharan, 2004)
• Soil- Low lying marshes and swamps near the sea/stream/river water
(Anson and Pavithran, 2013).

14. About Pokkali farming
• Pokkali rice-prawn farming practice is a traditional cultivation system.
• Many value added products are produced from Pokkali rice(NAFP,2016)
• Found only in the coastal areas of Eranakulam, Thrissur and Alappey
districts of Kerala where the height of water column of the field increases
more than 100 CM during the South-West Monsoon (Ranjith et al.2018).
• GI tagged farming practice(Nair and Salin, 2010)
• Utilizes the symbiotic relationship between rice and fish (Anson and
Pavithran, 2013)

16. • Climate-wet monsoon type of climate (Anson and Pavithran, 2013)
• Season- May/June to October, harvesting takes place by October end
and then saline water enter the field, the weeds and stubbles
decompose and feed the prawns that arrive the fields during high tide
(Tomy et al. 1984) and the remaining period (November – April) is
utilized for prawn culture or “Chemeenkettu”.
• Varieties- Chettivirippu, Vytila 1and Vytila 2 (Anson and Pavithran,
2013)

17. IMPORTANCE OF POKKALI CULTIVATION
• Organic farming methods.
• Ecofriendly biodegradable area which provides economic income
too(Ranjith et al.2018).
• No need of chemical pesticide and a fertilizer for high yield.
• Peculiar taste and high protein content and has several medicinal
properties (Ranjith et al.2018)..
• The ‘pokkali’ is resistant to pest, flood and soil acidity and it is high
yielding (Anson and Pavithran, 2013)
• Globally accepted Sustainable farming system(Nair and Salin, 2010)

18. Integrated Rice Fish Farming
• Innovative and viable way of farming (Tomy et al. 1984)
• Developed by local farmers
• After the harvest of paddy by the end of October, the fields are allowed to
have free exchange of tidal water from the sea to the fields (Anson and
Pavithran, 2013).
• Rice residues form the feed for prawns and the excreta of Prawns formed
the fertilizer for rice, which makes it ecologically stable and also reduces
the input by maintaining a mutualistic approach (Ranjith et al. 2018).
• It continues simultaneously along with fishing till the fields are finally
drained for taking up paddy cultivation by end of March (Ranjith et al.
2018).

19. Pokkali- Ecological context
• Pokkali farming- Natural system of cultivation which relies upon monsoons
and sea (Ranjith et al.2018).
• Integrated farming methods can be considered as climate smart practice to
enhance resilience of aquaculture communities to climate change
especially sea level rise that results in severe salinity intrusion.
• Pokkali farm soil is inherently fertile with an adequate organic carbon
content of 3 – 4 %. Tidal inflow also brings in Potassium and other
nutrients. Beneficial microbial flora also flows in.
• Pokkali- flood prone rice ecosystem.
• Great potential value as genetic resources, medicine and other industrial
uses (Ranjith et al.2018).

20. • Rich biodiversity (Anson and Pavithran, 2013)
• Sustainable management of coastal wetlands and near-shore marine ecosystems
also offer a wide range of co-benefits, including shoreline protection, nutrient
cycling, water quality maintenance, flood control, habitat for birds, other wildlife
and harvestable resources such as fish (NAFP,2016)
• The cultivation of Pokkali Rice-Prawn production systems is significantly different
from normal wetland cultivation of paddy. There are differences in moving water
in and out of the fields during the various tidal conditions (Ranjith.et.al,2018).
• Water constraints are affected by this exchanging process of O2. Nitrous Oxide
will be available in the Pokkali fields only when an oxidized condition is
maintained in the system (Anson and Pavithran, 2013)

21. • Continuous exchange of water during high tides and low tides
throughout the production period helps for the Oxygen stability in the
fields and it helps to create an oxidized condition in the production
system rather than a reduced condition there by reduces methane
emission thus decreasing the contribution of Green House Gases
(GHG) from these environment (Ranjith et al.2018).
• Discontinuing Pokkali cultivation will greatly affect the Prawn farming
practices.

22. • The juvenile Prawn lack the high protein supplement from the
decaying stubbles and vulnerable to many diseases. Without Pokkali
farming, the flooded land becomes more acidic less oxygen
availability, which is in turn detrimental to prawn farming (Ranjith et
al.2018).
• Unscientific Monoculture of shrimp- Severe environmental issues.
Decreased water quality, increased salinity of drinking water and it
also made the native paddy and vegetable cultivation, duck rearing
etc., virtually vanish(Antony, 2017)

23. Pokkali –sociological aspects
• The most productive ecosystems on earth and are of great economic
and cultural important to mankind ,IUCN (1999).
• Pokkali is the symbol of a culture.
• Livelihood opportunities-
• The Vembanad wetland complex provide a means of livelihoods for
natives who are dependent on fishing and related industries (Ranjith
et al.2018).

24. • Promotes tourism and also supports an agricultural system including
the ‘rice bowl of Kerala’.
• Low investment for prawn filtration provides a subsidiary income to
the farmers without much investment.
• In favorable seasons, a good crop of rice ensures a good catch of
prawn because residual plant material is also high which offers a rich
feeding ground for the prawns (Anson and Pavithran, 2013).
• Duck rearing, cattle rearing etc. in the Pokkali fields also exist as a
livelihood source

25. Limitations
• Traditional practices have low productivity but the culture coast is
high.
• Variations in the rainfall

26. Challenges
• The area under pokkali farming in Kerala which was about 25000 ha
in the 1980s now declined to 5707 ha, while active farming currently
prevails in just 2204 ha (Rajendran and Sreekumaran, 2008)
• Despite its inherent advantages and ease of operation, the traditional
rice-fish/shrimp integrated farming is fast losing ground.
• In some cases, shrimp filtration which is more profitable than paddy
cultivation was continued.
• Real estate mafias

27. • Conversion of wetlands for other agricultural purpose like coconut
plantations
• Reclamation for infrastructure development
• Construction of barriers for preventing saline intrusion like
Thanneermukkom regulator in Alappuzha and Kattampally regulator in
Kannur district
• Collapse of bunds of paddy polders (padasekaram) and increasing tidal
level/surges
• Pollution
• Fallowing of lands due to displaced farm labourers
• Invasion of alien species like Water Hyacinth, Hydrilla etc

28. • Emphasis on monoculture of shrimp farming with increased inputs
has also aggravated the risk of diseases and altered the balance of
these ecosystems which were long hailed as sustainable agri-aqua
integrated farming models (Nair and Salin, 2010)
• Loopholes in the wetland protection laws(Ranjith et.al,2018).
• Attack from Purple Moorhen, locusts etc.
• The establishment of International Container Trans-shipment
Terminal (ICTT)/ Vallarpadam Terminal-structures like pillars etc.
hinders the natural flow of water to the Pokkali fields (Ranjith
et.al,2018).

29. Future possibilities
• With increasing impacts of climate change and other change factors,
yields and profits of mono-aquaculture systems in ecologically
sensitive areas has been declining. As a result of these negative
impacts, many aquaculture farmers in certain region have shifted
back to integrated farming methods as an adaptive strategy
(NAFP,2016).
• It is expected that more wetlands adjacent to coastal wetland may get
inundated by sea level rise in near future. Hence management of
coastal wetland for coastal protection as well as for its continued use
for livelihood support need immediate attention.

30. REFERENCE
• Anson, C. J. and Pavithran, K. B. (2013) ‘Pokkali rice production under geographical indication protection: The attitude of farmers’,
Journal of Intellectual Property Rights, 19(1), pp. 49–53.
• Antony, J. (2017) ‘“ Oru Nellum Oru Meenum ” Existential Struggle of Empowering for Empowerment’, 13(1), pp. 43–51.
• Balachandran, P.V., Gracy Mathew.and K.V. Peter. (2002): Wetland Agricultureproblems and prospects, in Jayakumar, M (edited)
Wetland conservation and Management in Kerala: A Compendium on the Focal Theme of 14th Kerala science congress, STEC,
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• Nair, C. M. and Salin, K. R. (2010) ‘Simultaneous Rice – Fish Culture System in Modified Pokkali Rice Fields – A Possible
Alternative to Improve Sustainability’, (May 2014), pp. 1–7.
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Wet Lands of’ (2016), pp. 1–184.
• Nayar, S and N.M Nayar (1997): Wetlands, In the Natural Resource of Kerala, WWF for Nature India 363-374
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31. • Rajendran, C.G. and Sreekumaran, V. (2008) Status paper on pokkali cultivation, Rice Research Station,
Vyttila. Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur: 18 p.
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Prawn production system in central Kerala’, 6(4), pp. 8–13
• Sasidharan, N. K (2004): Enhancing the productivity of the rice, fish/prawn farming system in pokkali lands.
Ph.D thesis. Dept. of Agronomy. College of Horticulture, Vellayanikkara, Trichur, Kerala.
• Thurston, H. D. (2019). Sustainable Practices for Plant Disease Management in Traditional Farming Systems.
In Sustainable Practices for Plant Disease Management in Traditional Farming Systems.
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