Pokkali Rice

About 

• Pokkali is an heritage heirloom rice crop cultivated in the coastal regions of Kerala, including Ezhikkara, Ernakulam, and supported by Palliyakal Cooperative Service Bank (PCSB). 
• Pokkali is an ancient farming practice where one season of rice farming is alternated with another season of prawn culture. 
  • The prawn seedlings, which swim in from the sea and the backwaters after the rice harvest, feed on the leftovers of the harvested crop. 
• The rice crop, which gets no other fertiliser or manure, draws nutrients from the prawns’ excrement and other remnants. 
• Rice farming and prawn farming are mutually complementary.
• Pokkali has an excellent gene pool which is very useful for salinity tolerance.

History 

• The story of Pokkali begins with a great flood that washed the seeds of this prolific grain from the Western Ghats to the low lying saline plains. 
• There she evolved as a strong contender against the ravages of nature, to nurture the communities that lived harmoniously with the farming of Pokkali. 
• Pokkali is the oldest variety of rice in Kerala which has a tradition of at least 3000 years in rice cultivation. 
• It is also among the oldest known crops cultivated by organic farming methodologies in the world.

Source: TH