Organic prawn rearing: no looking back once success is achieved

Youngsters should be educated and encouraged to take up farming

Joint effort: The prawn farmer, Joseph Kora, Kuttanad, Allapey with his family members.
Kuttanad in Kerala, hailed as a unique man-made wetland ecosystem, stands out as both a rice granary and a tourist paradise.
With plenty of water and a fertile landscape, the region is an ideal place for paddy cultivation.
“But vast stretches of land, particularly over the years, have become barren, with loss of essential nutrients in the soil due to mindless dumping of excessive chemical fertilizers and pesticides,” says Mr. R. Hali, Director of Agriculture (Retd), Thiruvananthapuram.
Low price

“Paddy cultivation has taken a beating with high cost of purchasing the fertilizers, shortage of manpower and non-remunerative price for the produce,” he says.
When farmers were desperately looking for a low cost alternative, Mr. Joseph Kora, an organic paddy farmer took the lead in growing and harvesting organic prawns in his four hectare field.
“It is a very hard and risky job” says Mr. Kora. “It requires a lot of care and attention. But nothing succeeds like success,” he smiles with contentment.
Mr. Kora’s entry into organic farming was due to continuous failure in paddy cultivation using chemical fertilizers.
“The soil became hard, rocky and dry on the surface. Even after spraying the crops to protect them from pests and infestations, the problem continued as the sprays and pesticides were unable to control the menace as new pests attacked the crops,” he elaborates.
But did he encounter any problems in organic paddy cultivation? “Organic paddy cultivation was also not a cakewalk for Mr. Kora,” says Mr. Hali. It took him nearly three years to get an organic certificate and now he is getting a good price for his rice which is exported.
Change for the better

“But the real blessing for farmers like us came when we switched over from chemical rice cultivation to organic rice cultivation because organic rice cultivation paved the way for growing scampi in the same field after harvesting the crops,” says Mr. Kora.
The Marine Products Export Developmental Authority (MPEDA) and other developmental agencies put forward to him the idea of organic aquaculture with scampi and he decided to try it.
About 11 lakh scampi seeds were raised in his four hectares. Support was extended by officials in arranging seeds, feeds, advice and personal visits. About 1,800 kg of scampi each weighing about 30 gm were harvested in about 5 days from his four hectares (after 7 months).
Friendly approach

Though Mr. Kora is proud of the accomplishment, in his opinion the area expansion efforts must be done with more “care and a farmer-friendly approach.”
“Development agencies advise farmers to follow the one rice, one prawn model as it will be successful. But rice culture is treated as agriculture, whereas prawn culture is not considered so.
“Free power can be utilised for growing paddy, but not for growing the prawns. I do not understand this difference. When both are grown in the same field, why this difference?” he asks. Asked about manpower needs, he says: “Almost my entire family slogs with me. It is a difficult job no doubt, but the results are very sweet in terms of good profit.
“Good economic returns are the only reason which can attract youngsters into agriculture.
Even children of farmers do not want to carry on this work simply because they have seen their parents suffer economically and physically.
“If carried out correctly under expert guidance, this is one profession which can bring fortunes on those who are practising it, ” he says.
Need for youngsters

Mr. Kora feels that the young generation should be educated and encouraged to take up farming, so that they will feel it is a job which leads to prosperity and happiness. For more information contact Mr. Joseph Kora, Karyvelithara, Ramankary P.O., 689-595, Kuttanad, Allapey, phone: 0477-2707375, mobile: 9495240886 and Mr. R. Hali, phone:04070-2622453, mobile:9947460075.