Reports & Papers
Unlocking Paddy Fields: Enabling Aquaculture for Agricultural Transformation
Kerala, endowed with an extensive network of rivers, backwaters, wetlands, and paddy fields, possesses immense potential for inland fisheries and aquaculture. Despite these natural advantages and a strong fisheries tradition, the state continues to depend predominantly on marine fisheries, while inland aquaculture remains significantly underutilised. At the same time, declining profitability of paddy cultivation, rising labour costs, increasing fallow lands, and restrictive regulatory frameworks have limited opportunities for farmers to diversify into more viable and sustainable livelihood options. This working paper examines the evolution of Kerala’s aquaculture sector, the changing dynamics of paddy land utilisation, and the legislative and institutional frameworks governing integrated aquaculture development.
The analysis finds that regulatory rigidities, fragmented institutional processes, weakening traditional paddy–fish farming systems, inadequate market linkages, and limited policy flexibility have constrained the growth of inland aquaculture despite Kerala’s favourable ecological conditions. Through comparative analysis of successful models from other Indian states and countries, alongside stakeholder consultations, the study identifies opportunities to modernise Kerala’s aquaculture ecosystem. It proposes targeted legislative, institutional, and development-oriented reforms to enable integrated paddy–fish farming, improve land-use flexibility, strengthen value chains, and promote sustainable aquaculture practices. The paper argues that unlocking the productive potential of Kerala’s paddy lands through an enabling policy framework is essential to enhancing farmer incomes, strengthening food security, revitalising the agricultural sector, and advancing the state’s blue economy.
Authors: Dr D Dhanuraj (Founder-Chairman, CPPR), Banisha Begum Shaikh, Shobha Vasan, and Sreelakshmi Harilal.
Views expressed by the authors are personal and need not reflect or represent the views of the Centre for Public Policy Research.
Dr Dhanuraj is the Chairman of CPPR. His core areas of expertise are in international relations, urbanisation, urban transport & infrastructure, education, health, livelihood, law, and election analysis. He can be contacted by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @dhanuraj.
