Summary:
But there is another reason why Ernakulam’s pokkali fields and cultivation need to be conserved. Studying birdsBetween 2006 and 2009, researchers at Thiruvalla’s Mar Thoma College (MTC) surveyed five-hectare pokkali fields for bird diversity at Kadamakudy, Kuzhuppilly, Kumbalangy, Edavanakad, and Cheranelloor in Ernakulam district. Of the 119 bird species they counted, 84 are resident species such as the Indian cormorant and stork-billed kingfisher. They support as many as 174 of the 516 bird species in the State. In these paddy fields, rice cultivation occurs only for a few months of the year, after which the fallow fields function as shrimp or fish farms..