According to a recent report, the land under pokkali cultivation has steadily come down over the years. What used to be around 24,000 hectares decades ago, has plummeted to below 6,000 hectares by 2014, of which just around 1,000 hectares are under cultivation in Ernakulam, Alappuzha, and Thrissur combined (Kerala).
Key points
- Pokkali rice is a GI-tagged variety of paddy that is saline tolerant. Pokkali cultivation needs no use of fertiliser or pesticide as it follows a unique rotational crop pattern.
- The paddy is cultivated from April to October when the salt content in water is lowered by monsoon rain, whereas prawns are farmed in the same fields between November and March when the water records higher salinity.
- After pokkali harvest in October, the stubble is left as such, and the field is flooded to accelerate the decaying process of the stalk, which acts as feed for the shrimp, while the dead skin and excreta of prawns form manure for the paddy.
- The gene that allows pokkali to withstand the salt content in the water is called saltol. This gene is isolated and used even for international breeding programmes.
