The ‘superfood’ taking up 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 known 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.

Typically eaten as a snack, makhanas are additionally utilized in varied 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 massive and round and sit on the highest of the pond. However the seeds kind in pods beneath water and gathering them was an exhausting course of.

“Whereas we’re on the backside diving, mud enters our ears, eyes, nostril and mouth. A lot of us have pores and skin points resulting from 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 crops at the moment are usually 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 onerous work however I’m pleased with my custom. I’ve three youngsters and I’ll guarantee that certainly one of my sons continues the legacy of working in a fox nut discipline.”

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

About ten years in the past he realised it might be troublesome to increase 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.

During the last 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 totally 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 an increasing number of 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 need to comply with in his father’s footsteps.

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

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

Whereas learning 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 superb. 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’d get into rising fox nuts, because it was a labour-intensive job, which was principally carried out by fishermen.”

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

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

It is not simply within the discipline that improvements have been made.

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

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

“The tactic is crude, unhygienic and dangerous. It’s laborious, time-consuming and quite a lot of 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 included into his manufacturing plant in Madhubani, within the north of Bihar.

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

“Given the rising international demand for makhana, important will increase in manufacturing might be needed to attain any substantial discount in costs,” he says.

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

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