Loss of a legacy

Extreme weather events, rising input costs make betel leaf cultivation unviable in Mahoba, nearly destroying the district's unique Desawari variety that received Geographical Indications tag in 2021 

- 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 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."