This document provides information about Adat Gramapanchayath in Thrissur district of Kerala. It summarizes that the Gram Panchayat has a population of 29,336 people across 18 wards covering an area of 23.02 square kilometers. The main crops grown are rice, coconut, arecanut, cashew, banana and various spices. The document then focuses on kole lands, unique flooded rice fields in the area. High use of pesticides in these lands was polluting drinking water and impacting health. An initiative was started to promote organic farming in kole lands to reduce costs and protect the environment. Activities involved educating farmers and providing organic inputs. Monitoring shows reduced pesticide residues and
9. Major Crops and Resources
Rice 1100 ha
Coconut 285 ha
Arecanut 198 ha
Cashew 25 ha
Banana 52 ha
Tapioca 32 ha
Pepper 12 ha
Nutmeg 10 ha
Tuber crops 16 ha
Vegetable 26 ha
Ginger 4 ha
Turmeric 6 ha
10. Paddy Land Statistics
Total Paddy land area 1200.62 ha
Kole land area 1100 .62 ha
Nonkole land area 99 ha
No. of Kole farming ‘ Padavu’ s 13
No. of paddy farmers 3638
11. Farmer Statistics
Total no. of farmers 4384
Marginal ( < 1 ha) 3484
Small ( 1 -2 ha) 600
Medium ( 2-4 ha) 300
No. of SC farmers 1250
12. Special Features of Kole lands
Flood plains of Karuvannur, Kechery rivers
Submerged for 6 months in a year
0.5 to 1.5 m lower than MSL
Environmentally sensitive Ramsar sites
Major agricultural crop is Rice
High productivity
15. Origin of this Project
Presence of pesticide residues in drinking water
High incidence of cancer, skin diseases and
other health problems
16. Problems identified
Heavy use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers
in the Kole lands
Linkage of Kole land water bodies with
drinking water sources
High cost of cultivation
Damage to natural flora and fauna including
migratory birds.
17. Reasons behind the problems
Rice production in Kole lands being a high
income activity, farmers are reluctant to take
risks
Shortage of agricultural labour
Kole land cultivation involves a continuous
process of pumping water in and out of fields
to a network of channels which have direct
connections with drinking water sources
18. Methodology used for assessment
Chemical analysis of drinking water
Surveys conducted among local people
Discussions done with farmers
19. Strategy setting
Creating awareness among
Farmers
Agricultural labourers
Ward members
Agricultural input dealers
Local people
Providing financial assistance for
Organic manures
Organic pest and disease control measures
Trainings
20. Goals decided
Reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and
weedicides
Use adequate quantity of lime to reduce acidity
of soil
Increase the use of organic manures
Avoid the use of chemical pesticides by
adopting biocontrol methods
27. Activities
Formation of “Jalasabhas”
Involvement of NGOs like THANAL
Site visits by agricultural scientists and
department officials
Farmer Scientist interactions
Procurement of organic inputs
29. Results
No traces of pesticide residues in drinking
water
Reduced the cost of cultivation of rice
Population of beneficial organisms in the fields
increased
Reduction in health problems among farmers
and agricultural labourers
Higher price for the organically produced rice
30. Other impacts
Organically produced rice was procured by the
Kudumbasree and the brand name ‘Adat Rice’ fetched
a premium price
Panchayath level waste disposal was linked with the
project and a vermicompost unit is functioning which
converts organic waste to manure
Organic based cultivation is now extended to
vegetables, tuber crops etc.
Fish culture has been taken up in the network of
channels surrounding the kole lands which is
providing an additional income
33. Present Status
Farmers are adopting biocontrol methods even
without any financial assistance
Use chemical fertilizers and weedicides have
been drastically reduced
34. Threats
Since there is no special procurement for
organic products, there is difficulty in
maintaining a normal price range.
Demand for organic food products is still very
limited
