Extreme weather events, rising input costs have made betel leaf cultivation unviable in Mahoba, nearly destroying its unique Desawari variety that received Geographical Indications tag in 2021
Betel leaf cultivations in Mahoba have faced 70-100 per cent destruction due to cold wave this year (Photograph: Bhagirath) “I have never faced such monumental crop loss,” says Bijendra Chaurasia, reviewing his betel leaf garden, or bareja, spread over 0.4 hectare (ha). “The heavy dew and cold waves in January destroyed my Rs 10 lakh worth of pan (betel leaves),” says the 29-year-old, looking at the blackened vines entwined around bamboo sticks placed in rows in a greenhouse that resembles a rectangular hut.
Betel leaves, along with areca nuts and other assorted condiments, are chewed as mouth fresheners across the Indian subcontinent. Bijendra says his ancestors have grown pan for hundreds of years in Mahoba, a district on the southern border of Uttar Pradesh. “My generation might be the last to cultivate it.”
His neighbour Rajkumar Chaurasia says all the 100 families who grow pan in the district have faced crop destruction this year. “The losses are huge as most of us grow the Mahoba Desawari variety, which practically dissolves in the mouth and has a unique fragrance. It fetches double the price than most other varieties,” says Rajkumar, also the vice-president of Chaurasia Samaj Sewa Samiti, that worked to obtain a Geographical Indication (GI) tag for Mahoba Desawari Pan in 2021. “It took us eight years to prove its unique characteristics and get the GI tag. But there are no buyers this year for the frost-hit leaves.”
Betel leaf is a highly profitable crop which lasts for two to three years; harvesting is done once every month. The leaves, however, are sensitive to variations in temperatures and rainfall. Too much rain, or temperatures below 6°C or above 45°C, destroy them.
“This year, the minimum temperature dropped to 2°C, and 80 per cent of the vines have been damaged,” says Suleman Khan, in-charge of a government plant nursery in Mahoba.
“Overall, pan leaves worth Rs 1 crore have been destroyed in the district,” estimates Ramsewak Chaurasia, former scientist at National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI), Lucknow.
The extent of the damage was evident at the Mahoba pan mandi. In the last week of January, there were only two shops, mostly selling betel leaves from West Bengal.
“Who will buy rotten Desawari leaves?” asks Khemchad Chaurasia, one of the shop owners. “Pan farming has become a risky business in recent years, due to which I stopped farming it more than a decade ago. Some 20 members of my extended family have also quit pan farming,” Khemchand says.
Ramsewak estimates that the number of pan growers in Mahoba has gone down by 75 per cent from 410 in 2000, while the area under the crop has reduced by 95 per cent.
The former scientist, who is a native of Mahoba, helped NBRI set up a betel leaf research institute in the district in 1980. “It was closed down in 2002 due to paucity of funds,” he adds.
Rise in input costs has also made farming pan unviable. Rajkumar says setting up a bareja requires bamboo, iron wire mesh and straw, among other things.
Prices of these items have increased fivefold since 2000. Cost of cultivating about 0.2 ha in 2000 was Rs 1.5 lakh. Today it is Rs 5 lakh.
But income from pan sale has not seen a proportionate increase. In 2000, one dholi (200 leaves) cost Rs 100.
Today it sells for just Rs 200, he adds. The increase in sale of gutkha (flavoured areca nuts) has also caused a fall in pan sales, farmers say.
Schemes introduced by the government in recent years have also not helped much.
“The Paan Protsahan Yojana, introduced in 2018 under the Rashtryia Krishi Vikas Yojana, covers 50 per cent cost borne by a farmer in setting up a bareja, but it only benefits those who own the land. Two-thirds of pan growers in Mahoba cultivate on leased land,” says Ramsewak.
Since 2021, betel leaf is covered under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. Rajkumar says not a single betel leaf grower has received relief under the scheme.
“Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya during his visit to Mahoba in September 2022 promised schemes to help us. But nothing has materialised so far. The effort to get a GI tag has been in vain,” he complains.
To improve growers’ income, Ramsewak suggests that the government promote value-added products made from pan.
“Oil extracted from pan is in great demand and sells for Rs 1 lakh a kg. It is used in ayurvedic medicines and in making pan-flavoured candies, sweets and ice creams. Unless drastic steps are taken to help Mahoba’s pan growers, the Desawari variety could disappear in three to four years,” he warns.
This was first published in the 16-31 March, 2023 print edition of Down To Earth
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