Pokkali Rice 

• Pokkali is a unique saline tolerant rice variety that is cultivated using extensive aquaculture in an organic way in the water-logged coastal regions, spread in about 5000 hectares area in Alappuzha, Thrissur and Ernakulam districts of Kerala.
• The uniqueness of the rice has brought it the Geographical Indication (GI) tag and is the subject of continuing research.
• Its resistance to salinity is remarkable. The rice is cultivated from June to early November when the salinity level of the water in the fields is low.
• From mid-November to mid-April, when the salinity is high, prawn farming takes over.
• The prawn seedlings, which swim in from the sea and the backwaters after the rice harvest, feed on the leftovers of the harvested crop.
• Sluice gates are used to control the water flow to the fields.
• The rice crop, which gets no other fertilizer or manure, draws nutrients from the prawns’ excrement and other remnants.
• The organically-grown Pokkali is famed for its peculiar taste and its high protein content.
• It had been in the news because of its uniqueness and also because a group of people in Kerala have been trying to revive the cultivation of the rice variety in the State.

Why introduce in Sunderbans?

• About 80% of the rice paddies in the Sundarbans faced the problem of the saltwater incursion.
• If the Pokkali experiment succeeds, it would be a good step to turn around the fortunes of the farmers.