Pokkali Rice Farming is an age old, eco- friendly, traditional and organic method of paddy cultivation followed in the coastal regions of Eranakulam, Alappuzha and Thrissur Districts bordering the Arabian Sea in the state of Kerala. Unfortunately this precious culture is encountering immense problems which resulted in its drastic decline of area under cultivation in last decade. In order to unearth the problems in Pokkali Rice Farming  farmers perspective this study was conducted. The selected study areas were North Parvur, Kalamasseri and Njarakkal blocks of Eranakulam district of Kerala with sample size of 120. Majority (45.17%) of the respondents had high overall perception towards problems in Pokkali Rice Farming. In depth analysis revealed that majority had high perception towards cultivation related (50%), socio economic (50%) and policy related (49.17%) problems where as the respondents had a medium perception towards anthropogenic (49.17%) and ecological problems (41.67%). Bringing drudgery works of land preparation and harvesting under MGNREGA, announcing premium price for Pokkali rice, intensive research efforts to develop suitable farm machinery and stringent measures for implementation of conservation acts were some of the suggestions made in the study for promotion of the Pokkali Rice Farming.

Keyword: Pokkali rice farming; Kerala; Perception; Problem; Eranakulam