Farmers of coastal Tamil Nadu are compelled to grow rice despite its low returns, as rice alone has the unique feature of withstanding water stagnation for a longer period of time. Integrating fish culture and poultry rearing in rice helped farmers in 3 coastal districts in Tamil Nadu to double their income and enhance the nutritional status of their families.

Rice based farming systems are the main economic activities of millions of rural poor in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Asia alone has 200 million rice farms smaller than 1 ha, accounting for 90% of world Rice production. However, rice had always been a compulsory crop rather than an optional one for the farmers of the coastal rice tracts and wetlands all over Asia.  This is because the whole of the tracts are depending on monsoon rains as the main source of irrigation, wherein the distribution of rainfall is irregular with heavy down pour during a particular and shorter period of the year leading to inundation and flooding.  Further, drainage of water into the sea also becomes difficult during these periods as the sea backlashes with heavy tidal incursions.  Added to this situation, most of these rice tracts have heavy textured soil types, making percolation of water difficult.  All these result in stagnation of water during the cropping seasons of these tract.  Among the choice of crops for cultivation, rice alone has the unique feature of withstanding water stagnation for a longer period, whereas all other crops will perish within a very shorter period of water stagnation.  Thereby, the farmers of these regions are compelled to grow rice during the cropping seasons, in spite of the fact that the economic margin from rice grown is very little and even inadequate to support their livelihood. Inadequate livelihood, enforces on these small holder women farmers, malnourishment, low birth weight and child wasting. The constraints therefore identified are monsoon dependent crop seasons with ill-distributed rainfall; frequent inundation or drought and crop failure; marginal returns from rice; lack of diversification of enterprises and poor economic status, under nourishment and migration to urban centres.