Bihar produces nearly all of India's foxnut or makhana, the soft kernel of the prickly water lily. And even though it is prized for its nutritional value, with many terming it a superfood, the farmers who produce it face serious challenges. In the run-up to the Bihar assembly elections, NDTV's CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Rahul Kanwal, had jumped into a makhana pond in the Purnia district to speak directly with cultivators to understand their everyday struggles - from rising input costs to packaging rules, water issues, and market prices. The farmers requested to take up their issues with the government, and NDTV did just that.
At the PepsiCo Voices of Harvest awards, Rahul Kanwal asked Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan about what the government is doing to make the cultivation easier and lucrative for the cultivators:
"When we met the farmers in Purnia, they asked us to take up their issues with the government. They feel that the rates of their crops fluctuate a lot. Secondly, there are a lot of thorns, and they bruise their hands; farming is difficult. And like other crops, they want a minimum support price for makhana as well. How are you planning to make their lives better?"
Shivraj Singh Chouhan listed out detailed solutions that the government is working on to make the makhana farming easier.
"The Makhana Board has been constituted so that its cultivation could be made easier and farmers could be given a fair price. Before the board was formed, we spoke to the cultivators. I got into the water in Bihar's Darbhanga to plant makhana seeds and understand their challenges," said Chouhan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the National Makhana Board in Bihar on September 15. It will promote production and new technology development, strengthen post-harvest management, promote value addition and processing, and facilitate market, export, and brand development for makhana.
The Union Agriculture Minister said that the government is working on two to three solutions. "We need mechanisation - we need to develop such seeds which can germinate even in less water. So that the farmers don't have to dive into the murky water. We are working on this," he said.
"We have an entire team for the mechanisation process. There is one division in which our scientists are working on how to make farming easier. And the Makhana Board will also make arrangements for branding, marketing, packaging and proper processing of Makhana so that they receive fair prices," he added.
The eight districts of Madhubani, Darbhanga, Saharsa, Supaul, Madhepura, Purnea, Katihar and Araria in Mithila contribute around 80 to 90 per cent of India's total makhana output.
