Agriculture department to draw up action plan to prioritise pokkali farming on 260 acres of cultivable land in Maruvakkad in Chellanam

The Agriculture department is set to draw up an action plan to ensure that 260 acres of cultivable land out of the 465 acres in Maruvakkad in Chellanam grama panchayat is brought under Pokkali farming from next season, and that aquaculture is not prioritised over paddy farming.

The department has decided to convene a meeting of farmers in the area to finalise the groundwork for farming much in advance of the next crop calendar which runs between April 15 and November 15. This will then be followed by the aquaculture season from November 15 to April 14. At present, Pokkali farming is undertaken only on 8 acres belonging to three farmers.

Samiti to be strengthened

“Participation of owners of the entire 260 acres or the lessees who carry out farming will be ensured at the meeting. Besides, the existing Padashekhara Samiti will be further strengthened by bringing in more people interested in the prospects of farmers. Fields will be made available for preparatory works, including dewatering, as early as April 6, unlike April 15 as of now,” said V.P. Sindhu, Deputy Director (Water Management), Agriculture department.

Things have been far from smooth for the Pokkali farmers in Maruvakkad for successive seasons. Dewatering is yet to be completed this season, which may disrupt the crop calendar, delaying the harvesting beyond the calendar period of November 14, after the Padashekhara Samithi suspended dewatering on July 20.

The farmers had protested with sprouted seeds and brought their plight to the attention of the Agriculture Minister and the District Collector. Then only the Padashekhara Samiti handed over the key to the pump house on August 14 .

“Pumping started on August 22 after the Pokkali Land Development Agency (PLDA) allocated funds for the same for two weeks. However, dewatering is not progressing at the expected pace as the most efficient of the three pumps is not functioning. Even if sowing is done at the end of the dewatering period on September 4, the 120-day harvesting period may take harvesting at least to the first week of December,” said Francis Kalathungal, one of the Pokkali farmers in the area.

The Maruvakkad Padashekhara Karshaka Union, however, was dismissive of the plight of the farmers, including the delay in harvesting. “Dewatering proved difficult due to the breaches in the embankment, and we called it off on July 20 after we ran out of funds. We had informed this to the authorities concerned,” said V.V. Antony, secretary of the union, adding that they would start auctioning fields for aquaculture from November 1.