KSJPS opposes year-round Vannamei shrimp farming in Kari Fields

Protests are opposing the alleged move to carry out year-round Vannamei Shrimp farming in the Pokkali field.

According to Janakeeya Prathirodha Samithi (KSJPS), Kerala State, attempts are being made to expand prawn farming in a way that is detrimental to the interests of inland fishermen, agricultural workers and surviving farmers.

“The large-scale vannamei shrimp planting on Kari land will harm rice and vegetable farming, as well as the environment. Kari land has been transformed into the center of Paddy and plant farming for decades of human labor without the need for machinery or modern systems. If saltwater shrimp farming is allowed in these fields, it will play a crucial role in protecting groundwater, and adjacent residential areas will gradually become barren land.

KSJPS said shrimp farming not only contaminates groundwater sources, but also accelerates the deterioration of buildings and other infrastructure as the salt continues to exist. “It will spin the death of rice and vegetable cultivation. Trees containing fruits containing coconut palms will be lost. Freshwater aquatic creatures will be destroyed. As a result, the livelihoods of hundreds of inland fishermen will be wiped out.”

“The support of the ruling party”

Samithi expressed concerns about Vannamei Shrimp Farming’s support for “the Workers Party that ruled the Left Workers Party.”

Pokkali Paddy Rulichation has been granted a geographic indication label and is listed on the United Nations Red Protection List. The integrated Pokkali farming method follows a rice and a fish cycle, practiced in five coastal Taluks in Chetha, Kochi, Kanayannur, Paravur, Paravur and Kodungalur, in the Alappuzha, Erernakulam and Thrissur regions. According to the crop calendar formulated by the government, Pokkali fields should be used exclusively for Paddy cultivation from mid-April to mid-November. During the remaining five months, salinity levels were high and adjacent bodies of water allowed to be brine aquaculture.

The Commission asked the Government to clarify the circumstances that led to its consideration of amendments to the one-meter and one-fish cycle. “Authorities should not forget that Vannamei shrimp cultivation has caused environmental problems in other states,” KSJPS said.