The clearance to include kaipad rice cultivated in the brackish water tracts in the northern parts of the State in the Geographical Indications (GI) registry is expected to give fresh impetus to the initiatives to revive the traditional ‘kaipad’ system of rice cultivation internationally.
Though the formal inclusion of the organically produced kaipad rice in the GI registry will be notified after four months, kaipad rice cultivators are upbeat that their product could be sold with the GI logo.
The clearance followed a presentation by a delegation from here that included three farmers on the organic rice varieties before a team of experts under the Controller General of Patents in Hyderabad on July 26.
A large acreage of fields under kaipad rice cultivation is in the northern parts, especially Kannur. The kaipad system of rice cultivation is an integrated organic farming system in which rice cultivation and aquaculture go together in coastal brackish water marshes (‘kaipad’ in local parlance) rich in organic matter.
No chemicals
Traditional varieties such as ‘Orkayma’ and ‘Kuthiri’ are popular in the kaipad fields. Chemical fertilizers are not used in the rice, fish and shrimp farming in the fields.
The application for the inclusion of the kaipad rice in the GI registry was earlier submitted by the Malabar Kaipad Farmers Society (MKFS) of Ezhome here.
The society has been formed with its jurisdiction covering kaipad farmers in Kannur, Kasaragod and Kozhikode.
A golden opportunity
When contacted, T. Vanaja, principal investigator of the college project, who led the delegation that made the presentation on the kaipad rice in Hyderabad, told The Hindu that the getting the GI tag offered a golden opportunity to small and marginal kaipad farmers to enhance their livelihood security through the high premium price their produce can fetch.
The project is for the comprehensive development of kaipad rice tracts, she said adding that getting GI tag for kaipad rice was one of the objectives of the project.
She said the project was being implemented in association with the MKSF.
The procedures for getting GI tag for kaipad rice, including quality analysis of the produce, collection of data and relevant information, tracing history of origin, interaction with the farmers, and designing log and site map, among others, were started in 2010 and the application package was submitted to the GI cell in Chennai through the IPR cell of the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU).
The two new varieties developed by the KAU will also come under the GI tag, she added.
Fields left fallow
The excitement about the GI tag for kaipad rice, however, is dampened by the fact that large extent of kaipad fields are left fallow. The Fisheries Department’s pilot project to restore a vast extent of the kaipad fields to the system of rotational rice and shrimp farming under the Agency for Aquaculture Development, Kerala (ADAK) is an initiative to revive the system. ADAK project manager Dineshan Cheruvat said an extent of 108 hectares of fields were revived last year and survey was on to revive 100 acres this year. “Our plan is to revive kaipad farming in 100 acres in the three districts every year,” he said. The agency was collecting traditional local cultivars. The three northern districts together are estimated to have 4,100 ha of kaipad tract. According to agricultural scientists, considering an average kaipad rice production of 1.8 tonne/ha per year, there was potential of production and marketing of approximately 7,000 tonnes of a year if the entire kaipad was made cultivable.
