A unique model weaving in bio-shields and ensuring livelihood security of the locals has been fashioned in the backwaters of the picturesque Pitchavaram. The village is famous for its mangroves, which are said to have acted as an effective shield against the Dec 2004 tsunami.
For the past decade and half, the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) had been trying hard to rope in the Pitchavaram locals in raising mangrove plantations, but without much success. Seeing no livelihood prospects, the villagers were not exactly thrilled with the project.
But after the giant tsunami waves failed to find chinks through the mangroves thus sparing the village from its onslaught, the scientific community noticed a palpable change in the attitude of the local community.
Fishing communities, usually reluctant to participate in mangrove plantation, have now begun to show interest in restoring and conserving mangrove and non-mangrove bioshields. “We have also devised a brackish water farming system to integrate mangroves plantation and culture of fish and crabs. The latter would provide them with a livelihood as well,’’ said Dr V Selvam, director, MSSRF. In the new model, a series of bunds are formed along a stretch of plantation with brackish water in between. At the edge of the bunds, mangrove plantation was taken up and in between, halophytes were grown as cash crops (used by fisher folk for seasoning their fish curries), he said.
At present, MSSRF has tied up with a private farm that has earned a sizable profit of Rs 30,000 in four months by farming fish and crabs in a 0.7-acre farm. “Fisheries department can make use of the system through self-help groups in its unused farms as the state has about 30,000 ha of saline affected land in the coastal districts,’’ Dr
Selvam noted.
The farms need no artificial seeds, no chemicals and no energy as required in prawn farms. A tidal outlet ensures there is at least 3 feet of standing water in the farm. Various species could be used for mangrove and halophytes.
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