Woes of 'Pali' betel leaf farmers from Uttar Pradesh

The Chaurasiya community from Pali area of Uttar Pradesh's Lalitpur district have been traditionally engaged in the cultivation of 'Pali' variety of betel leaves for generations, but the increasing input costs and the lack of support from the government has left them in the lurch.

Lalitpur (Uttar Pradesh): Betel leaves, once considered as green gold, no longer assures a lucrative income for its farmers. The Chaurasiya community, traditionally engaged in betel leaf cultivation from Pali in Uttar Pradesh's Lalitpur district has been particularly hit by the increasing input cost and lack of government support.

Pali variety of betel leaf is consumed all across the country and is considered to be one of the best forms of 'Paan' - an Indian after-dinner treat that consists of a betel leaf filled with other ingredients.

But the betel farmers from Pali, who have been cultivating Pali betel leaves for generations, have been left in the lurch resulting in the mass migration of farmers from rural areas to urban areas in search of alternative income options.

Narrating his ordeal, Balram Chaurasiya, a betel leaf farmer said, "it takes a lot of hard work, and investment to cultivate this variety of betel leaf. The government is least bothered and doesn't pay any attention to our miseries. We have been suffering for a long time and our situation is still the same."

Echoing his sentiments, another pali betel leaf farmer Shyam Sunder Chaurasiya said, "we as betel leaf farmers are not even entitled to any benefit from any government-sponsored crop insurance schemes. We are simply sticking to our ancestral practices."

Betel farming woes

Betel is vulnerable to even the slightest change in the weather and the constantly changing weather pattern often leads to the destruction of the betel leaf harvest.

Farmers say the cost involved in watering the leaves has also become a major hurdle in betel farming lately. With rainfall becoming increasingly erratic, ponds do not hold sufficient water all year round.

A betel leaf garden requires frequent watering, plucking of leaves, applying fertilisers and pesticides and maintenance of the enclosure, and the increasing labour cost is proving to be a burden on the farmers.

Too little too late

Although Betel leaf cultivation has been brought under the Centre's Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) in the 2018-19 financial year, it has barely managed to bring any relief to the struggling farmers on the ground.

The officials, however, claim that the move by the government has benefitted betel leaf farmers from the region to a great extent.

"The construction of a single betel leaf greenhouse costs around Rs. 51,000. Under this scheme we cover 50 per cent of the cost to construct the structure and say, around Rs. 25,000 is deposited in the bank accounts of farmers through Direct Benefit Transfer, " said Sughar Singh, a district official from the state Horticulture Department.

"Under the scheme, 50 betel leaf farmers were recently given a target to cultivate a new betel leaf greenhouse - needed to grow the leaves - in a 500 square metre area. Nearly 43 farmers from Pali and seven from Banpur were covered under the scheme," added Singh