Pokkali Rice, Tirur Betel Leaf and Chengalikodan Nendran Banana: the GI Products of Kerala

Background

Farm produce from Keralam keeps returning to the news through awards and disputes over who may use a place name, so the official register is worth holding. APEDA, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, publishes a GI Products catalogue State by State. Its Kerala page carries 16 numbered entries, among them Marayoor Jaggery, Navara Rice, Palakkadam Matta Rice, Edayur Chilli, Pokkali Rice, Tirur Betel Leaf, Vazhakkulam Pineapple, Central Travancore Jaggery, Wayanad Jeerakasala Rice, Kaipad Rice, Chengalikodan Nendran Banana, Kuttiattoor Mango, Attappady Thuvara and Kanthalloor Vattavada Garlic. Each entry names a registered proprietor, which is the body that holds the right to the name. Kerala Agricultural University is the registered proprietor of Pokkali Rice, whose entry also carries an address for the Pokkali Land Development Agency in Ernakulam, and the Director of Research of the same university holds Central Travancore Jaggery. Navara Rice is registered to Navara Eco Farm in Palakkad, and Tirur Betel Leaf to a growers' society in Malappuram. Kaipad Rice is registered to the Malabar Kaipad Farmers’ Society, and Vazhakkulam Pineapple to a company at Nadukkara. A geographical indication ties a product name to the area it comes from, so growers outside that area cannot use it.