Sustainable Nutritional and Income Security Through Integrated Farming in the Coastal Saline Pokkali Ecosystem of Kerala

Pokkali system of cultivation, unique in the world, produces naturally organic rice in the coastal saline soils of Kerala. Rice-fish/prawn is the traditional system followed in this system. Over a decade, less attention is given to rice cultivation making the system less sustainable and leaving many fields barren. Ensuring more income per unit area from Pokkali fields is the only way to attract farmers back to Pokkali cultivation and to bring back the glory of the traditional farming system. To develop and demonstrate profitable new enterprises in the Pokkali ecosystem, a project was taken up including various integrating components. Different farming systems compared were rice alone (low saline phase), rice-fish rotational system and rice-fish + poultry system. A new model-floating duck cage (2 numbers) that can carry 50 ducks each was developed and installed over a field of one acre (0.4 ha), the average size holding of a marginal farmer. Duck droppings favoured the fish culture of Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and the average size of fish increased by 476.5 g without any external feed. Production of eggs and meat by poultry increased farm income and contributed to the nutritional security of the neighbourhood. Duck released to paddy fields after harvest of rice reduced duck feed to a great extent (5 kg day−1 for 100 ducks). Increasing the income from rice fields by year-round utilization of the farm land by judiciously mixing fish + poultry with rice reduced the negative trend in the rice production front. The study proved that duck rearing is a viable component for integration in the rice-fish Pokkali ecosystem. Besides, rice-fish + duck farming system formed an important strategy for climate moderation by an additional transfer of C (average load of 3 kg organic matter per day by100 ducks) to the soil and enhancing other ecosystem services.