Sweet Rattlepod & Coconut estates

Sweet Rattlepod or Crotalaria, a large genus of flowering plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) commonly known as rattlepod or rattlebox. 

When the pea-like flowers matures they form inflated seed pods. As seeds dry inside, they break loose and rattle loudly when the pod is shaken, earning vernacular name കിലുകിലപ്പ.

• Flowers and Appearance: Bright yellow, purple, or bicoloured pea-like blossoms and attracts a wide variety of pollinators and butterflies.

Grown as green manure to enrich soil

with nitrogen.  Seeds and leaves contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids, toxic to human and animals.

Coconut Growers & Sweet Rattlepod 

Coconut growers in Malabar historically introduced and popularised the cultivation of sweet rattlepod as an essential green manure crop. While it grows wild in many tropical areas, its deliberate cultivation between rows of coconut palms was a highly successful traditional practice.  They found that in the humidity planting rattle pods in the inter-rows in coconut estates vastly improved the plantation's ecosystem.

Natural Nitrogen Fixers

Like all legumes, these plants form a symbiotic relationship with soil bacteria to capture atmospheric nitrogen.  When the planters ploughed down and buried them in the soil around the base of the palms, it provided a massive free boost of nitrogen.

The Moisture Retention and Soil health.

The sandy loam soils typical of coastal Malabar lose moisture quickly.  Rattlepod biomass added organic matter that acted like a sponge, retaining water and preventing soil erosion during Monsoon.

Nematode Control 

The roots of sweet rattlepod naturally exude bio-chemicals that suppress harmful soil nematodes, protecting the root system of coconut plants.

Dutch and Coconut estates of Malabar:

Dutch East India Company historically played a massive role in standardising, commercialising, and scaling up of coconut products into a large-scale agro-industries in 17th and 18th centuries.  Dutch  actively encouraged local Chieftains to organise coconut estates, factories and warehouses.

While the Dutch East India Company did not maintain a substantial string of fortified outpost, factories and warehouses along the coast, they did not possess vast inland territories, or large armies or vast agricultural estates. Their policy was maximum pepper trade with minimum expense.

The Dutch made exclusive treaties with native kingdoms - Cochin, Purakkad, Kayamkulam and Travancore. Under these agreements the local chieftains were legally bound to force their subjects to sell their produce extensively to Dutch at predetermined prices.  This allowed them to maintain a flexible supply chain at minimal coasts.  The local purchase of the pepper and copra was outsourced through local middle men.  They set up strategic military lookouts at river mouths and backwater channels -- Alleppey, Chettuva and Ponnani to monitor the flow of goods.