and holding and training

support to makhana farmers and will also work to ensure they receive the benefits of all relevant government schemes. Now,

the reason that the government has decided to set up this board in Bihar is because the state accounts for 85% of the country's makhana production. In fact, a small community of fishermen in the state is responsible for farming and cultivating fox nuts. For those who may not be familiar, makhana traditionally grows in lakes as it is the seed of the water lily. However, it is now mostly cultivated in fields where farmers must maintain the correct water levels at all times. So,

when farmers sow these seeds, they have to first put these seeds into a nursery field. Once the seeds grow into seedling They have to transplant those seedlings into another field. And after 20-30 months, when the seedlings grow enough, they have to continuously water these fields just to maintain the water level. That's

the Indian Expressor's Himanshu Harsh, who recently reported on the state of makhana farming in Bihar. As

these plants grow, they have like thorns all over from leaves to stems to fruits. So harvesting gets quite difficult due to these thorns because once they get into these ponds they have to manually pick all those makhana seeds from the waterbed what happens is that once the fruit ripens it bursts and it releases makhana seeds on the waterbed so once they get accumulated on the waterbed these people usually called malhas which are a community of fishermen so they get into their boats and go in between these fields. So once they are there, they have to make dips, around 1,000 dips per day, just to collect makhana at a point. Once it's collected at a point, they have to put those makhana on their board, then they have to bring it back to the shore. And then the process of drying and roasting the makhana to get that popcorn-like structure, the white one which we eat, that starts. So

that should give you a sense of how hard this work is. But despite how laborious it is and the rate at which the prices of makhana are rising, these farmers have not been able to earn higher wages. To know more about this community and their farming process, my colleague Shashank Bhargav spoke to Himanshu. Himanshu,

you mentioned how these farmers have to do about a thousand dips a day to get these makhanas. Is that the most challenging part of the process yes

exactly it's the most challenging part because it's not done by anyone so these people malhas the fishermen they say that just because they are connected to the water from their birth only they can do it that's what they claim so when once the the makhana see it's a settle down on the water bed they have to go there bare-bodied without any apparatus, without anything. They just dive in and it's flooded water we are talking about. So every time they dip, they have to shut down their eyes, the mud get into their nostrils, their ear canals. So it's quite difficult. Another thing is that in that water, apart from the makhana thorns, there are many waterborne creatures, including fishes, snakes, and sometimes they are metal and glass bodies. So they have to work amid all those things. And

here we are talking about malhas. Are they the ones mainly doing makhana farming in the state?

Yes, especially in the region I visited. So they were at some level part of the makhana cultivation, whether it's sowing or harvesting. The harvesting part is mainly done by them only. Even other, like the village I visited, Mahishi, it is a village of malhas only. So everyone is associated with a makhana cultivation. You

know, when we talk about makhanas, we mentioned earlier how it is now being touted as this superfood. And eventually when it is sold in the market, makhanas can sell from anywhere between 1200 to 2000 rupees a kilo. But

can you tell us what these farmers end up making? So they have this constant complaint that despite making the hardest efforts in the process of makana cultivation, we don't make much. So the malhas which dip into the water 1000 times, they just make 30 to 35 rupees per kg they put out from the water so if they put out 10 kgs it will be like 350 rupees a day so they don't make much and the same makhana when it's get popped one kg is sold for like thousand to up till two thousand if it's a drought season or if there is a shortage of makhana in the market the price could rock up to 3,000 or even up. And

since you mentioned how intensive this process is, can you also talk about just how many people it takes to harvest a certain kilogram of makhanas? So usually in an acre of field, it takes around five

people to harvest the makhana, that is to bring out the seed out of the makhana field. Once it's out, it gets popped by another people's expertise in that process. They are called from Darbhanga. A set of six people sit on six different stoves, each stove with a different temperature. Then they roast the makhana into each of those steel pans. And after it's out from the sixth stroke, they put it on a wooden platter and smash it with a wooden hammer just to pop out the white popcorn like makhana we eat. And

the other thing you mentioned in your piece is that there is a considerable lack of infrastructure in the state. And so as a result, you know, despite Bihar being responsible for 85% of the makhana production in the country, it is actually other states like Assam, for example, that end up benefiting as far as exports are concerned.