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Detailed survey of ‘kaipad’ areas sought

KANNUR: A report submitted recently by a panel of agricultural experts recommending restoration of tidal action in the Kattampally river basin on a trial basis as part of reviving ‘kaipad’ (brackish water) rice cultivation has also called for a detailed survey to indicate the fallow area which can be brought under cultivation.

The report submitted by the panel headed by Paddy Mission Coordinator P.V. Balachandran to Agricultural Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran here a few days ago observes that total revival of kaipad rice cultivation in the wetlands of Kattampally here is impractical, given the considerable changes in the land use pattern in the area over the past 40 years.

The panel therefore recommends division of the entire paddy land into suitable blocks based on topography and extent of inundation. The Kattampally wetland area had been a rice granary of the district before the Kattampally irrigation project was commissioned over four decades ago.

The farmers had been cultivating a special salinity-tolerant variety of rice in the kaipadu.

Although the yield was only 2 to 2.5 tonnes per hectare, the paddy crop was followed by a crop of fish and shrimps that entered the fields from the sea.

The project comprised a 13-shutter barrage at the confluence point of the Kattampally tributary aimed at flood control, salt water prevention and irrigation, among other things. The project area is spread over nine panchayats in the district. The report prepared on the basis of detailed field visits, consultation with farmers in the area and study of previous reports submitted by government agencies has found that monsoon floods continue to occur in the area owing to lack of raised bunds for the paddy fields and improper drainage. The report recommends that a detailed survey has to be conducted immediately to assess the areas where paddy cultivation could be revived. The thrust of the report is the recommendation for an operation policy for the regulator.

It says that such a policy with reference to salinity regime and flood levels during different seasons is integral to revival of farming the area.

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