Narayana Rai, a visionary farmer, started cultivating ‘kokum’ to preserve it as plantations began declining. His flourishing property, now controlled via his son Ramesh Rai, boasts over 10,000 kokum bushes. The circle of relatives has additionally dispensed over two lakh saplings to different farmers.
Kokum, a unprecedented and liked sour-tasting fruit, regularly options within the delicacies of other folks dwelling within the Western Ghats area of India. Regardless of its reputation, this savoury fruit is turning into increasingly more scarce because of the decline in its plantations.
“Maximum of it simplest grew wild with none correct care or irrigation. They had been nearly going extinct when my father began to develop them on our plantation,” says Ramesh Rai (68), the son of Narayana Rai — a farmer from Ballikan village in Puttur, who used to be one of the most first individuals who realised the decline within the manufacturing of kokum and began planting the fruit.
Identified scientifically as Garcinia indica, kokum is a fruit-bearing plant within the mangosteen circle of relatives. It’s regularly discovered within the Western Ghats area of India. Gobbled for its savoury style, it’s sometimes called bheranda in Marathi, kudampuli in Malayalam, and kodampuli in Tamil.
Even if Narayana kicked the bucket previous this yr, his circle of relatives, particularly his son, has been sporting ahead his legacy. Narayana’s property, now controlled via his son, boasts over 10,000 blooming kokum bushes which are actively generating fruit.
The Higher India sat down with Ramesh to grasp his father’s imaginative and prescient and what Ramesh is doing to take it ahead.
A jump of religion
Ramesh fondly remembers when his father predicted that kokum can be in prime call for someday. Speaking in regards to the historical past of the property and his father’s dream, he says, “My father bought our belongings in 1950, remodeling what used to be then a dense woodland right into a plantation. To begin with, we planted areca, rubber, coconut, jackfruit, and cashew.”
Whilst Ramesh’s father used to be farming other crops, it used to be about 15 years in the past that he started planting Kokum, expecting its long run call for because of its medicinal price. “He began rising kokum as a result of his love for the fruit! Moreover, kokum crops don’t want a lot water and develop smartly within the native local weather,” he provides.
He stocks that his father planted round 12,000 kokum crops, of which roughly 10,000 have survived. Kokum is very wanted in North India for its use in making oils and drinks. “We had been assured that the cost of kokum would upward push, and we determined to stay up for the crops to mature. To begin with, the fee used to be round Rs 10 according to kg, but it surely has now risen to Rs 120 to 130 according to kg, and in some puts, it may well pass as much as Rs 300 according to kg,” he stocks.
When Narayana began farming kokum, everybody idea that it used to be a waste of time. Alternatively, for him, this supposed the lack of a local tree, which he didn’t need.
Ramesh provides, “The preliminary demanding situations my father confronted had been important. Farmers discovered it arduous to imagine {that a} easy plant like kokum may remedy their issues. Since kokum used to be now not well known and had little call for out there, farmers had been reluctant to waste their time rising it.”
Saving the local plant
Ramesh remembers that his father Narayana took it upon himself to boost consciousness a number of the farmers. “We needed to exhibit its effectiveness and spouse with more than a few organisations to exhibit it. We attempted to give an explanation for to the farmers how medically recommended it used to be. It took round 36 to 60 months for the farmers to peer effects and recognise its advantages,” Ramesh says.
As soon as the farmers understood my father’s concept, they sought after to plant kokum too, he provides. “Many had been impressed after seeing our plantation and took crops from us. Over time, we’ve dispensed round 2,00,000 saplings to farmers. We charged Rs 5 to twelve according to sapling, however we stopped nursery manufacturing to forestall oversaturation out there,” he stocks.
Whilst Ramesh labored as a hotelier for many of his lifestyles, he’s now making plans to take his father’s
legacy forward. “My father used to be all the time devoted to farming, and he began the resort trade too managing it along the plantation. The land used to be ancestral but it surely used to be my father who expanded it to 200 sq feet and grew to become it right into a farm property. We live to tell the tale the property, and I need to divide my time between the resort and the plantation now,” he says.
Sharing his long run plans, he says, “Via subsequent yr, we plan to concentrate on harvesting and advertising and marketing kokum in greater amounts. Labour shortages have restricted our capability, however we’re addressing this factor via bringing in additional employees. We intention to fulfill the present prime marketplace call for for kokum. This yr, we couldn’t harvest a lot because of labour shortages, however with new labour methods, we are hoping to conquer this problem.”
He provides, “My father made more than a few kokum merchandise, corresponding to head therapeutic massage oil, frame therapeutic massage oil, and kokum juice. Although we’ve the apparatus and amenities to proceed manufacturing, we’ve now not actively pursued it since his passing. Now we have a manufacturing unit and equipment, however I haven’t persevered the manufacturing as a result of I’m excited about different fields. I need to revive that sooner or later too.”
Ramesh has additionally hosted world delegations from round 42 international locations for a convention organised via the Central Plantation Analysis Institute in Kasaragod. “They visited our plantation to look at and be informed from our farming practices, particularly kokum. Even if we don’t incessantly host visitors on the property, we’ve a couple of rooms in our previous space for infrequent guests,” he stocks.
The transition to Kokum farming used to be additionally a strategic choice fairly than simply an emotional one, Ramesh informs. “It used to be to utilise our assets successfully and cope with water shortage problems. We planted kokum between different plants like coconut and cashew to maximize land use. The good fortune of our kokum plantation has confirmed the foresight and making plans that my father had, making sure the sustainability and profitability of our farming practices.”
He provides, “We imagine that kokum has important possible because of its medicinal homes and the rising call for for herbal well being merchandise. As we proceed to increase our plantation and triumph over demanding situations, we stay dedicated to offering top of the range kokum and contributing to the rural panorama in our area.”
(Edited via Pranita Bhat; All Photographs Credit score: Ramesh Rai)