District Collector Jafar Malik visited the Maruvakkad paddy collective in Chellanam panchayat on Sunday to assess farming activities in the area.
A communication from the Public Relations Department said Mr. Malik planted rice saplings to mark the start of ‘Njattuvela’, the cultivation season, and evaluated the irrigation system in the region. The Kerala High Court had recently ordered that pokkali paddy cultivation should be revived.
Pokkali paddy is an indigenous variety of rice cultivated mostly in the coastal regions of Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Thrissur districts. The rice plants can grow even in flooded conditions after the salt content in the field is washed away in the beginning of the monsoon season. The variety is also salt-resistant, making it unique to coastal areas.
The pokkali fields are used for six months of rice cultivation and six months of fish culture. However, there has been a tendency to use the fields throughout the year for fish and shrimp culture, with claims that rice cultivation is unprofitable. However, the continuous use of the fields for shrimp and fish culture has led to an excess of salt water in the fields.
It is estimated that around 100 acres of pokkali fields in Chellanam panchayat will come under rice cultivation this year.
