Demands raised before committee appointed by Fisheries Department Fish farmers have urged the government to provide quality fishlings and fish feed to promote aquaculture in agricultural fields. The farmers raised their demands at a meeting convened here on Thursday by a 12-member committee appointed by the Fisheries Department to formulate policies to promote sustainable aquaculture in pokkali and kole lands. B. Madhusoodana Kurup, chairman of the committee and Vice-Chancellor of the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, said that a report of the findings of the panel, incorporating the demands of the farmers, would be submitted to the government soon. The farmers also demanded effective construction of bunds; steps to avoid dumping of waste in water bodies and waste water flowing into agricultural fields; measures to check use of pesticides in farms; and insurance cover for farmers. “Fish farming is being threatened by deteriorating quality of soil and water. Urban waste and indiscriminate effluent discharge from factories are contaminating wetlands,” said Pazhoor Appukuttan, a fish farmer. Another farmer G. Jyothi Basu demanded immediate steps from municipal authorities to prevent waste from the city being dumped in wetlands. The farmers called for enhancement of aquaculture productivity, profitability and marketing. The farmers face many disadvantages in the marketplace. They have little physical access to markets particularly for small volumes of product. There is a serious lack of effective servicing of small-scale producers through extension, credit and insurance. “Small-scale aquaculture producers need assistance for accessing markets and remaining competitive. Awareness about market access issues needs to be raised. Better management practices to improve farm performance are needed,” said Mr. Basu. “The government aims at creating a policy for generating an additional income for paddy farmers,” said K.S. Shyla Raj of the Kerala Agricultural University, a member of the committee. K.G. Padmakumar, committee member, was also present. Traditional practices Many farmers in the coastal tracts of Ernakulam, Thrissur and Alappuzha districts alternate pokkali cultivation with prawn farming. The pokkali tract is a low-lying coastal saline area where agriculture is difficult. Pokkali farmers have developed some traditional practices for overcoming these difficulties along with using saline tolerant pokkali rice varieties. The farmers have developed a unique system of organic farming. It involves growing a rice crop in the low saline phase during April/May and September/October, and a traditional prawn filtration during the high saline phase that extends up to mid-April. Traditional pokkali varieties are tall statured with medium bold red rice varieties with a grain yield of 2 to 3 tonnes a hectare under organic farming. Pokkali varieties possess great medicinal properties due to the high content of iron, zinc, potassium and antioxidants (oryzanol, tocopherol and tocotrienol). The most common varieties cultivated and conserved in the pokkali tract include Pokkali, Chootupokkali, Chettivirippu, Cheruvirippu, Kuruka, Ponkuruka, Karuthakuruka, Anakondan, Eruvapandy, Bali, Orkayama and Orpandy. In April, pokkali rice farmers of Kerala were selected for the Plant Genome Saviour Community National Award instituted by the Protection of Plant variety and Farmers Rights (PPV and FR) Authority of the Union government. The Plant Genome Saviour Community National award has been instituted for rural farmer communities engaged in conservation, improvement and preservation of genetic resources of economic plants. Pokkali farming was nominated for the award by the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU). The university protects the intellectual property rights of farmers under the plant variety protection system in India. Many institutions in the country and abroad have been sourcing rice germplasm from the pokkali region. The invaluable source of genome has been recognised by the Union government through a Geographical Indication certificate. Geographical Indications (GIs) identify products as agricultural goods, natural goods or manufactured goods as originating or manufactured in the territory of a country or a region or locality in that territory where a given quality, reputation or other characteristics of such goods is essentially attributable to its geographical origin.