Bihar's black rice experiment falters at first step

Lured by its ability to fetch high prices from less yield and cultivated area, farmers in Gaya take up black rice cultivation only to realise that it has no market demand locallyGaya, Bihar: Fed by River Brahmaputra, Assam’s Goalpara is known for its success with black rice. Upendra Rabha, a progressive farmer from Amguripara village, sowed the first seeds of change when he embarked on an experimental black rice cultivation in 2011.    Today, under the aegis of Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project (APART) run with the help of the World Bank, the state agricultural department strives to improve the financial status of tribals by making them take up black rice cultivation. As agricultural losses due to marauding elephant herds are very common here, the goal is to ensure good returns even from lesser yield/cultivated area.With black rice wielding its power in the market with a selling rate of over Rs 100 per kg, it was hardly a surprise that this variety caught the fancy of a few farmers in Bihar. However, their attempts to rise above poverty by experimenting something new had an opposite effect.Chandan Kumar (42) of Inguni in Gaya told 101Reporters that he got Chak-hao black rice seeds from Nagaland two years ago, after learning about it from his elder brother who works at Nagaland University's School of Agricultural Sciences and Rural Development.Chandan’s relative and resident of Sondiha in Guraru block, Manoj Kumar (64) got black paddy seeds from him for Rs 220 per kg last year and launched the crop in one bigha. As Chandan had told that black rice can be sold for Rs 100 to 150 per kg, 15 farmers from Sondiha sowed this super grain last year in a total of over 10 acres. Another eight villages, including Paraiya and Dakhner, also saw its cultivation.Kumar sowed four kg of black rice seeds on one bigha (0.62 acre) of land. At the time of replanting, around 30 kg diammonium phosphate was used, followed by 25 kg urea about a month later. What followed was quite a dampener.“It was only later that we got to know that urea fertilizer should not have been given. Due to urea, the plant’s length increased and the paddy crop began to fall in the fields itself. All our hard work went in vain. I managed to get only six quintals of black rice from one bigha,” said Kumar. But the biggest problem was yet to come. “We had a lot of difficulty finding a buyer. The market for this product is almost nil in Bihar,” said Kumar. When nothing worked, they decided to approach Chandan, who himself sold their paddy.“Last year, I sold their paddy to a businessman from Chhattisgarh for Rs 45 per kg [4,500 per quintal]. This when common paddy was priced at Rs 1,600 to 1,700 per quintal in the market. This year, we again faced the same issue. The produce of some farmers was sent to Chennai at Rs 55 per kg,” Chandan said.Despite the issues in market penetration and government support, farmers in Bihar are increasingly getting lured by the big money that black rice production can bring. Farmers in Gaya, Jehanabad, Aurangabad and Rohtas districts have been arranging expensive seeds of black rice with their own personal efforts.“If the crop is good, we can easily get 12 quintals from one bigha,” Chandan reassured. “In neighbouring Jehanabad district, Patiyawan village mukhiya Rudreshwar Sharma is cultivating black rice on a large scale and also getting it done by other farmers,” he added. However, those who have already made the plunge detest it. “We were given the dream that this paddy will bring good yield and income, but the opposite happened. Usually, 12 to 14 quintals per bigha of common rice [fetching a maximum of Rs 23,800] is produced here, but we got only six to seven quintals of black rice [maximum Rs 31,500]. We do not know what to do with this rice now. It is still lying unused in the houses of many farmers. We will think twice before cultivating it again,” Kumar said.(From left) Dr. Nilanjay, Agriculture Scientist; Chandan, seed supplier, marketing person and farmer; Manoj Kumar, farmer of Sondiha Village (Photos sourced by Ramnath Rajesh, 101Reporters)Why not Bihar?Bihar government’s focus is on promoting new varieties of maize and baby corn, and old varieties of wheat. The government also lays more emphasis on horticulture. As much as 50 to 75% subsidy is given to farmers for planting figs, guava, lemongrass etc. So there has been no government efforts to help farmers who cultivate black rice. Some senior agriculture department officials told 101Reporters on condition of anonymity that no file regarding black rice has come up before them so far. Dr Neelanjaya, Associate Professor, Genetics and Plant Breeding, and Principal Investigator (Rice), Dr Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University (RPCAU), Pusa, told 101Reporters that he has cultivated black rice for his university research work. "If Bihar government wants, we can immediately provide up to 60 kg of seeds to farmers from the university's seed farm. All that is needed is initiative,” he asserted.Even Bihar's farmers are not aware of the benefits of black rice, which eventually prevents scaling up of production. According to the US Department of Agriculture, 100 gram of cooked black rice provides 356 kcal energy, 8.89 gram proteins, 3.33 gram total lipids (fats), 75.56 gram carbohydrates and 2.4 mg iron. In fact, black rice has the highest protein content among all rice varieties. Black rice contains anthocyanins, a group of antioxidants, and vitamin E. It is also good for liver and kidney, and is recommended for diabetes patients due to its low glycemic index. It is rich in potassium, carotenoids, amino acids and fatty acids.Black rice is good for making kheer (sweet rice pudding) and cakes. It is is also suitable for rice beer, which tastes better than the one made from white rice. The taste of black rice varies from region to region, but it always has a nutty flavour. Paddy expert Dr BN Singh, who retired as head of Genetics and Plant Breeding Department of RPCAU, said black rice does not cook fast like normal rice.Citing the case of Chak-hao of Manipur that recently received Geographical Indications (GI) tag, Dr Singh pointed out that the recognition definitely aided in increasing exports from that region. This variety has been in cultivation in the northeastern state since the ancient times. On the other hand, black rice has come to Bihar only recently and is a new crop for the region. Obviously, it does not carry a GI tag.Moreover, there is no pioneering farmer like Upendra Rabha or an organisation to support such a farmer. Rabha had initially sowed one kg of black rice seeds he had obtained from Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Dudhnoi, in 2011, but only one plant survived. From it, he got 150 gm of seeds. The next year, 48 kg of paddy was produced from those seeds. This eventually culminated in the formation of a black rice production committee comprising 53 farmers.With production growing substantially, the farmers’ collective began to export black rice to Europe, China, Japan, New Zealand, the UK and US. The product has a customer base in Delhi, Mumbai and other states as well. All these efforts were aided by APART. Unfortunately, Bihar’s agriculture department neither has a similar project up and running nor recognises the contributions of farmers who took up the challenge of cultivating a crop new to them.On the other hand, the Assam government has honoured Rabha by naming three strains of black rice — Upendra Rice-I, Upendra Rice-II and Upendra Rice-III — after him. Today, over 600 acres of black rice cultivation in Goalpara district ensures economic prosperity of farmers there, while losses mount for those in Bihar due to a lack of scientific knowledge about its cultivation.Department blames lack of buyers Admitting that Bihar government does not have an incentive scheme to promote the cultivation of black rice, Gaya District Agriculture Officer Ajay Kumar Singh told 101Reporters that farmers had to struggle a lot to sell their produce. “Currently, the government does not have any plan to purchase black rice… Common people are not aware of its qualities, due to which there is no demand in the local markets,” he said. Citing that it was a policy matter of the Bihar government, no other district level official was ready to speak on why incentive was not provided or why the department did not help farmers sell their produce.Asked whether farmers would take up black rice cultivation again, Ajay predicted, “They had problems with sales, so I do not think any of them would be inclined towards it.” He added that he does not have information about the black rice cultivators of the district, while reminding that he got posted here from Champaran only six months ago.On what is being promoted in Gaya, Ajay said, “Our district has six hectares of Sona Moti, a wheat variety that has been in existence for about 2,000 years. We also promote sweet corn cultivation in 11 blocks.”   Edited by Rekha PulinnoliCover Photo - Farmers cultivating black rice in the field (AI generated image/Canva)

Fragmented ancestral lands, high input costs do a disservice to young farmers of Bihar's Bhojpur

Marginal farmers owning the fertile lands located near the Rice Bowl of Bihar cannot save more than Rs 7,000 per acre of paddy or wheat, even if the crop is good  Bhojpur, Bihar: Madan Mohan Rai (72) knows that being a farmer is not just about sowing, nurturing and harvesting, it is more about doing all the work alone. “Agriculture is no longer profitable. In the absence of viable alternatives, we are forced to carry out all farm activities ourselves,” says Madan, a retired government school teacher and sarpanch of Amharua panchayat in Sahar block. Bordering Bihar’s rice bowl Rohtas, the southeastern region of Bhojpur comprising Sahar block has been witnessing a constant migration of young farmers to work as urban labourers. As such, Bhojpur district is known for its paddy and wheat yields. But Madan, who has been cultivating his over 20 bighas of land for the last 14 years, believes things have changed a lot. "Tractors have replaced traditional ploughing using oxen in all villages. So, cow dung fertiliser is no longer available. We are completely dependent on chemical fertilisers from the market,” he observes. Giving a detailed cost analysis of the paddy crop, Madan says the cost of running a tractor twice to prepare an acre of land was around Rs 1,800. Paddy seeds from the market would cost Rs 700 to 800. For supplying water to the field through pump sets, diesel worth around Rs 2,000 per acre would be needed. The field should be ploughed at least twice again before sowing, costing around Rs 2,000.Once the paddy grows, the farmhand transplants it for Rs 2,400 per acre. At this time, a bag each of urea and DAP fertiliser worth Rs 300 and Rs 1,500, respectively, are used in the field. When the paddy crop is about to get ready, urea worth Rs 300 is again used to ensure a good crop. Manual weed removal from the fields of standing paddy crop will cost Rs 1,800 per acre. If it does not rain, the fields have to be watered by spending Rs 1,500. At least four watering sessions will be required, which means Rs 6,000 for that alone.   “Once done with all these chores, a harvester machine gathers the grains at Rs 1,500 per acre. Another Rs 400 should be spent on a tractor to transport the harvested grains to the farmer's house. In all, Rs 17,000 to 18,000 should be spent to cultivate paddy in one acre, leave aside one's hard work. If everything goes well, there will be 15 to 16 quintals of paddy. After keeping aside the produce required for the family’s consumption, not much money will come from it,” Madan says.After all these expenses, it takes three to four months to get the money from sales if the grain is traded at government-run Agricultural Produce Market Committees. Sadly, small farmers cannot wait that long, so they are forced to sell for a lesser rate to private buyers. “Last year, the Minimum Support Price offered for purchase of paddy through primary agricultural credit societies was Rs 1,950, while the buyers in private mandis offered only Rs 1,600 to 1,700 per quintal," says Santosh Rai from Amharua.   Amharua panchayat head Deepak Sah tells 101Reporters that Kosior, Yugal Tola and Ghatbigaha villages also fell under the panchayat. Being a canal-fed area, the cost of pumping water was less, which helped to bring down the cost of irrigation a little.The case of wheat crop is no different. To thresh wheat, pump sets should work for 20 hours, costing around Rs 3,000. A 40-kg bag of wheat seeds costs 2,400 to 2,500. A total of 60 kg seeds are planted in one acre and 60 kg fertiliser is applied. Using a harvester will cost Rs 1,500, while transportation by tractor will cost another Rs 400. As farming is done in small pieces, the crop is not the same. On average, only seven to eight quintals of wheat is produced per acre, though the possible yield per acre from a big plot is 12 to 13 quintals.(Above) A paddy harvester at work in Waina village (below- clockwise from left) Amharua village farmer Santosh Rai, Ayar panchayat mukhiya Siddhanath Sah, Waina village farmer Umesh Pandey, Amharua panchayat mukhiya Deepak Sah (Photo - Ramnath Rajesh, 101Reporters)Broken into pieces Agriculture and allied activities employ 76% of Bihar's population and contribute around a quarter of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) now. Notably, the GDP share was 34.9% in the triennium ending (TE) 2003–04.Bihar is the most backward state in the country. The caste-based survey released on October 2 says Bihar's population has increased to 13.07 crore from the Census 2011 figure of 10.41 crore. As per NABARD All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey 2016-17, the average monthly income of an agricultural household in Bihar was Rs 7,171, which was lesser than the national average of Rs 8,931. The rising population and division of ancestral agricultural lands have affected farming substantially.While the average landholding size of a farmer is 3.62 hectares (ha) in Punjab, it is only 0.39 ha in Bihar.  The total number of landholdings are 104.33 lakh, of which 86.46 lakh (82.9%) are marginal farmers (with less than 0.40 ha), 10.06 lakh (9.6%) are small farmers, and 7.81 lakh (7.5%) are farmers who hold land above two ha. The land is also in many pieces and in different directions from villages. Result: marginal farmers are abandoning cultivation and migrating to cities."The partial implementation of land reforms and demographic pressure are responsible for this uneven distribution of landholdings. At the national level, marginal holdings constituted about 68.5% in 2015-16, whereas in Bihar it was 91.2%... Consequently, the average size of the operated area has come down considerably from 0.43 ha in 2005-06 to 0.39 ha in 2015-16. The average size of operated area of Bihar is 60% less than the operated area of India as a whole," says the Study on Agricultural Diagnostics for the State of Bihar in India."Since landholdings are small and scattered, machines cannot be used for ploughing and a high cost is incurred on collecting the harvested produce from different parcels of land. Most farmerssuggested land consolidation and the adoption of cooperative farming as potential solutions toovercome the constraints related to the scale of farming. Farmers also reported that legal issues such as lack of land title, inheritance, mutation and recognition of tenancy affect their investment. In most cases, the land title remains unchanged after the death of the previous land owner for which the present landholder faces problems. Due to the lack of a land title, farmers are not issued a land possession certificate and are thus unable to apply for bank loans," the study says.Bhojpur District Agricultural Officer Shatrughan Sahu tells 101Reporters that the cost of agriculture was increasing, mainly due to the non-adoption of scientific methods. “The plots are very small. Even if farmers adopt modern techniques, they soon revert to old methods,” he says.Giving an example, Sahu says the maximum expenditure was on ploughing. If the fields are ploughed less, the crop will be good and the cost will be less. There will be less expenditure on water and seeds as well. "But farmers are not ready to accept this. They think more ploughing will result in a better crop, which actually leads to water accumulation in the fields. Due to excess water, wheat plants turn yellow and growth gets affected. Excessive watering of fields reduces the yield per acre," he details.He further explains that farmers used 55 to 60 kg of wheat seeds on one bigha (0.62 acre), but only 30 kg was actually required. In scientific farming, the work of removing weeds also costs less.A total of eight villages constitute the work area of Ayar panchayat head Siddhanath Sah. "Different villages have different problems. Most of the farmers here are landless. Those with land do not cultivate. They lease it out on the basis of an oral agreement about cash payment, or are into sharecropping," he says. “Farmers have to apply more fertilisers every year than the previous one, otherwise the yield will not be as good. As the lessees have to pay money to the landowner and also support their own family, they are compelled to increase the yield by applying more fertilisers. Around 16 quintals of paddy is produced in an acre. However, in some areas with waterlogging issues, paddy harvesting is delayed and continues until the whole of December. As a result, sowing of wheat gets delayed,” he says. Farmer Umesh Pandey of Waina village says one cannot save more than Rs 6,000 to 7,000 from one acre of paddy or wheat, even if the crop is good. “So the only option left for farmers is to leave the village. Youth prefer going to the city and working as security guards than staying in villages,” he says.“There are very few people here who own 10 bighas (1.01 ha). It is very difficult to support the family throughout the year with the income from farming. If this is the condition of the farmers in a region known for its fertile land, then the condition of farmers in other districts with less fertile land can be easily assessed,” he says.Edited by Rekha PulinnoliCover Photo - Farmers working in a dry paddy field (Photo - Representative image/Canva)