Traditional Wisdom of Mallah Community regarding Makhana Production and Processing in North Bihar

Abstract

Proper documentation of traditional knowledge of a particular community unique to a given culture, tradition
and society is necessary to preserve it for a longer period of time. The current study was conducted in Darbhanga
and Madhubani district of Bihar state of India for documentation of traditional technical knowledge used by
Mallah community for makhana cultivation, it’s harvesting and processing. The data were collected from
both primary and secondary sources and analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results revealed that makhana
cultivation is a specialized enterprise of fishermen community who acquired the knowledge of its production,
harvesting and processing over a period of time. Being an aquatic crop, farmers rarely used chemical fertilizers
and pesticides for its production. Many tradition tools like gaanj, aphara, pitna, khainja, coir rope, earthen
chulha, bamboo sticks etc., were used at different stages of its harvesting and processing. It was observed that
harvesting of makhana seed from the bottom of pond was a painstaking activity involving a lot of drudgeries.
Processing of makhana seed to popped lava by traditional method is equally difficult since it may cause injury
to palm and hand during roasting and popping. The economics of processing was worked out and it was found
that a family earned a meagre Rs 16,200/- after processing of 1 ton of makhana seed. These processors needed
help in the form of loan from banks at low interest rate. Most of the income of farmers as well as processor has
to be given to the local money lenders since they charged very high interest of 36-60% per annum from
farmers.