Book of Extended summaries ISDA

International Conference on Reimagining Rainfed Agro-ecosystems: Challenges & Opportunities
during 22-24, December 2022 at ICAR-CRIDA, Hyderabad
T2-37P
Impact of Climate Change on Pokkali Farming System
S. P. Vikas* and Shinoj Subramannian
ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendra (Ernakulam), ICAR- Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute,
Narakkal, Kochi- 682 505, Kerala
* vikaspattath@gmail.com
Pokkali is a unique farming system in coastal areas of Ernakulam, Thrissur and Alappuzha
districts of Kerala where paddy and shrimp are cultivated alternatively in the same field.
Uniqueness of this farming system is that the paddy is saline tolerant and there is no external
inputs required either as fertilizer for paddy or feed for shrimp. The maximum salinity during
paddy crop that is raised during June to September is 4 ppt and maximum salinity during
shrimp crop that is raised during November to May is 30 ppt. The timing of both paddy crop
and shrimp crop is critical as optimum levels of salinity and water quality are essential for
successful crop. Monsoon showers normally occurring during the first week of June every year
flush out salt accumulation in soil and bring down the salinity to safer levels to facilitate
sprouting of paddy seeds. Subsequent to sowing, the water level in Pokkali fields is kept
minimum by shutting down the field sluice gates till root development to prevent seeds getting
washed away. The production from Pokkali fields reduced considerably in recent years. The
cost of production also increased and the Pokkali farming became no longer profitable. In this
context, a survey was conducted to examine the impact of climatic atrocities on these
developments. The area selected was Kadamakkudy and Karumallur panchayaths in Ernakulam
district of Kerala. The monsoon showers delayed by 3 to5 weeks during the past four years
resulted corresponding delay in paddy sowing pushing the cropping period to July to October.
This caused exposure of paddy crop to higher salinities upto 6 ppt resulting stress to the crop
and reduced production. The average production of eight quintals per acre paddy dropped to
5.5 quintals per acre. The subsequent shrimp farming also affected due to the delay. The
average production of 3.6 quintals per acre dropped to 1.2 quintals per acre. Another issue
expressed by the farmers is that the seeds are washed out in flash floods. There were times in
these four years when the sowing had to be repeated upto three times incurring additional
expenses. The seed cost per acre is Rs.2,700/-.
Ecosystem based approaches for climate change adaptation, ecosystem services, integrated farming system
models, Land degradation neutrality
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