The ‘superfood’ taking on fields in northern India

Like his father and grandfather earlier than him, Phool dev Shahni as soon as made a residing by diving to the underside of 8ft-deep (2.4m), muddy ponds.

“I used to dive in 7 to 8ft of water for hours a day – coming to the floor to breathe after 8 to 10 minutes,” explains Mr Shahni.

Whereas down in these murky depths he was harvesting the seeds of a sort of water lily referred to as euryale ferox.

Referred to as makhanas, fox nuts or lotus seeds, they’re prized for his or her dietary worth, being excessive in B nutritional vitamins, protein and fibre, with some touting them as a superfood.

Usually eaten as a snack, makhanas are additionally utilized in numerous dishes, together with the milk pudding kheer, in addition to being floor into flour.

Within the north-western Indian state of Bihar, the place Mr Shahni lives, 90% of the world’s makhana is grown.

The leaves of the lily plant are giant and round and sit on the highest of the pond. However the seeds kind in pods underneath water and amassing them was an exhausting course of.

“Whereas we’re on the backside diving, mud enters our ears, eyes, nostril and mouth. Plenty of us have pores and skin points as a result of this. Additionally the plant is roofed in thorns, which give us cuts throughout our physique throughout harvesting of the seeds,” Mr Shahni says.

However in recent times farmers have modified the cultivation course of. The vegetation are actually typically grown in fields, in a lot shallower water.

Harvesting seeds in only a foot of water means Mr Shahni could make twice as a lot cash in a day.

“It is nonetheless exhausting work however I’m happy with my custom. I’ve three kids and I’ll ensure that certainly one of my sons continues the legacy of working in a fox nut subject.”

Dr Manoj Kumar, is a type of behind the change in makhana cultivation.

About ten years in the past he realised it might be tough to broaden its cultivation in deep ponds.

Now Senior Scientist on the Nationwide Analysis Centre for Makhana (NRCM), he helped to develop the cultivation of lilies in fields of shallow water.

Over the past 4 or 5 years that method has been taking off.

“With our improvements, rising fox nuts is now as straightforward as any crop grown on land. The one quantity of water wanted is a foot. The employees don’t must work for hours in deep water,” he explains.

And after experiments with completely different seeds, his centre discovered a extra resilient and productive selection, which he says has tripled the revenue of farmers.

Dr Kumar says that makhana cultivation has helped some farmers address extra unsure climate situations and floods which have hit Bihar in recent times.

Now NRCM is engaged on machines that may harvest the seeds.

All that innovation has attracted increasingly more farmers.

In 2022, the realm used for fox nut farming was 35,224 hectares (87,000 acres), an nearly threefold enhance over 10 years.

Dhirendra Kumar is one farmer who has made a latest swap to makhana cultivation.

Though he grew up on a farm, he did not wish to comply with in his father’s footsteps.

“As farmers we at all times grew wheat, lentils and mustard however ended up shedding some huge cash.

“More often than not floods destroyed the crops,” he says.

Whereas finding out for a PhD, he got here into contact with a scientist engaged on makhana cultivation and determined to experiment with the crop on his household farm.

“The outcomes have been wonderful. Within the first yr I made a revenue of £340 [US$432],” he says.

Now he grows lilies on 17 acres (6.9 hectares) of land.

“In my wildest desires I didn’t assume that I might get into rising fox nuts, because it was a labour-intensive job, which was largely carried out by fishermen.”

The change in crop has additionally opened up job alternatives for girls. Mr Kumar now employs about 200 native girls who sow the seeds.

“My purpose is to offer jobs to as many farmers as potential in order that they don’t depart farming due to uncertainty in agriculture,” he says.

It isn’t simply within the subject that improvements have been made.

In addition to being one of many main cultivators of makhana, Madhubani Makhana, processes it for export everywhere in the world.

Historically, as soon as the makhanas have been harvested, they’re washed, roasted after which hit with a mallet-like software to make them pop.

“The strategy is crude, unhygienic and dangerous. It’s laborious, time-consuming and quite a few instances results in accidents and burns,” says Shambhu Prasad, the founder and chief govt of Madhubani Makhana.

In partnership with the NRCM, his firm has developed a machine which roasts and pops the fox seeds.

“This has helped us enhance the standard and the manufacturing of fox nuts,” says Mr Prasad.

Three of the machines have been integrated into his manufacturing plant in Madhubani, within the north of Bihar.

Whereas innovation within the farming and processing of makhana is growing manufacturing, Mr Prasad doesn’t assume that shall be sufficient to see costs fall.

“Given the rising world demand for makhana, vital will increase in manufacturing shall be essential to attain any substantial discount in costs,” he says.

Again on his farm, Dhirendra Kumar thinks that makhana cultivation will deliver far-reaching change.

“It’s the start of innovation in Bihar in terms of fox nut harvesting. It’s going to change the panorama of the state,” he says.