The Blue Boom

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INDIGO, THE most beautiful and expensive of all natural dyes in common use, has always been closely associated with India, as its name implies. Before Independence, the countryside of Bengal and Bihar were the major areas for cultivating indigo. A spur in the production of indigo, jute, tea and other cash crops, which replaced food crops such as rice and left farmers bereft of food security, eventually led to the “Blue Rebellion” or the Nil Satyagrah of 1859. Originally extracted from plants, today indigo is synthetically produced on an industrial scale as it binds well with fabrics when used as a dye.

The indigo crop in recent times is changing the economic landscape from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh to the terrains of Uttarakhand and even the Tibetan plateau. Different varieties of indigo, ranging from the most common Indigofera tinctoria and Indigo heterantha to a species from Japan, are being experimented with. About 200 farmers in Pithoragarh and Bageshwar districts in Uttarakhand have taken up indigo farming. According to Avani Society, a non-profit based in the region and working on instituting an indigo supply chain in the area, farmers have been able to earn a profit of around R2,000-3,000 through indigo cultivation over a three-month cycle of 10-12 working days in all, depending on factors such as rainfall and sunlight. “We are looking at indigo as a crop for empowerment and regeneration,” says Rashmi Bharti, co-founder of Avani Society.