Kerala - Kochi   

Pokkali: GIR application likely in a month

Staff Reporter

KOCHI: Application for Geographical Indications Registration (GIR) for pokkali rice, a salt water-resistant variety of rice grown in the coastal areas of Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Thrissur districts, is likely to be submitted within a month.

Work on preparing the application and gathering the required data for the purpose is nearing completion.

It was decided at a meeting of experts, farmers and scientists in May last that Pokkali Land Development Agency (PLDA) based at Ezhikkara near Paravoor and Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) would apply together for the GIR.

It was also decided that commercial use of the GIR would be utilised by the farmers owning farm collectives (paadashekharams) through the PLDA.

There are about 4,000 hectares of paddy fields under pokkali cultivation in Ernakulam district, while in Alappuzha the extent of pokkali cultivation is in about 3,000 hectares.

Acreage under pokkali cultivation in Thrissur has shrunk considerably.

Data collection completed

C.R. Elsy of KAU who is the coordinator for the programme for getting GIR said on Thursday that the work of collecting information and other details on cultivation and practices was nearly complete.

Geographical indication is a tag that recognises a manufactured product or a natural produce from a geographical region that has unique qualities and reputation linked to the place of its origin.

The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act was passed in India in 1999.

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