CONTENTS-
Abstract
Introduction
Makhana - Major Wetland Crop of the State of Bihar
Integrated Aquaculture with Makhana
Other Aquatic Products Used for Edible Purposes
Mithila Wetlands: Sites of Migratory Birds
Other Aquatic Resources
References

North Bihar, criss-crossed by a large number of shifting rivers, is known for its chaurs (land depressions), mauns (ox-bow lakes), and other wetlands of various hues. These water bodies serve as the life line of the region by maintaining the ground water table and meeting the requirements of drinking and irrigation. Besides, all these wetlands constitute the reservoirs of fisheries and a diverse group of aquaphytes and help meet the energy and protein demands of the suffering humanity in far-off flood ridden localities.

North Bihar wetlands are ideal sites for cultivating gorgon nut, water chestnut and a host of other subsidiary food and fodder plants. Euryale ferox Salib. ( Makhana ) is the foremost aquatic macrophyte grown as a cash crop in the non-calcareous Kosi-Kamala belt. The plant is known for its starch and protein content. It forms   the basis of livelihood to thousands of fishing families. Fish farmers, normally of Banpar sub-caste are well versed in harvesting Makhana seeds from the pond bottom. The process being an arduous one, the fishermen from this area are hired for this purpose in lower Assam beels , which also grow this crop in semi-wild state.

Makhana growing wetlands in north Bihar also yield a sizable proportion of air-breathing fishes. Of late, there has been an increasing awareness for harnessing their productivity at an optimum level under concurrent and rotational methods of integrated aquaculture with carp fishes as well. Recent years have witnessed Makhana being grown under rotational cropping with arable crops like wheat and potato. This practice is getting popular in the flood- ravaged Saharsa district, which has a high water table and bamboo borings have made it possible to procure irrigation water at a relatively low cost. Integrating aquaculture alongwith these aquaphytes could help augment the wetland productivity to its optimum.

The paper takes into account certain avenues suggesting better utilisation of north Bihar wetlands.

Mithila region in north Bihar is often held synonymous with Pokhari (ponds), Maachh (fishes) and Makhan (gorgon nut). These three components profoundly influence the regional life style. The land abounds in the big and small water pockets created by geomorphological and anthropogenic factors. Quite a good number of villages in this area are known for large number of ponds. The Andharatharhi village in Madhubani district alone has six dozen ponds of which 27 ponds constitute the beads of a picturesque garland. The ponds are interconnected amongst themselves and also with the Sugarwe river for smooth recharging with the flood water. The village has been a site of the historical Karnat dynasty, which developed this irrigation system and is proving its relevance even today, spanning over eight centuries. Hundreds of natural water bodies are known as chaurs (land depressions), mauns (ox-bow lakes), dabar (swamps) khatta (ditches) etc. For millenia, the rivers like Kosi, Burhi Gandak, Kamala-Balan, Baghmati-Kareh and their tributaries are known to change their courses. The dead and abandoned courses form the stagnant channels, which are also utilised for cultivation of fish, deep water rice, Makhana and other aquatic eatables (Ahmad and Singh 1991, 1995; Datta Munshi et al. 1991, Dehadrai 1994; Jha 2000 etc.).

Makhana ( Euryale ferox Salisb. of family Nymphaeaceae)   is cultivated in thousands   in the stagnant water bodies in 8 to 10 districts of north Bihar. Makhana cottage industry provides livelihood to thousands of fishing families in this area. It is more suited to grow in the non-calcareous soil of Kosi-Kamala belt and is also cultivated in some adjoining Terai districts of Nepal including Mahottari and Dhanusha.

Makhana seed with a moderate 10-12 per cent protein content is known for its high essential amino acid index (EAAI), which constitute   about 90 per cent (Jha et al. 1991a,b). This makes it comparable to fish and mutton as far as the quality of protein is concerned. Raw Makhana seed powder is an essential ingredient of the baby foods in China (which has a strong system of indigenous medicine). It has about 78 per cent carbohydrate mainly in the form of starch.   It has only 0.1% fat content and is rich in minerals. Ayurveda mentions it to have spermatogenic and aphrodisiac properties.

Makhana in north Bihar ponds is a forced annual plant. This is because the pond bottoms have to be swept for collection of seeds. The plants are either naturally uprooted by high floods during July-August or they are extricated by the farmers. The wild populations, however, are of perennial nature. Makhana ponds do possess an indigenous fertility status as nothing except seed is taken out of the system. The organic matter remaining at the pond bottom mineralises during next summer and is made available to the succeeding crop as a good manure during its   optimum growth period (April to June). Major crop investments are   labour required for transplantation, harvest and popping operations. Costs are also incurred on weeding out the floating and submerged macrophytes and on insecticides.

Next to north Bihar, it is the lower Assam beels where its semi-wild nikhoriguti (Assamese vernacular of Makhana ) is available. The Assamese fishermen confine themselves only to fishing. Harvest of Makhana seeds from the pond bottom is a very arduous task. This involves sweeping the floor by holding deep breaths inside the water. Bamboo appliances like auka and gaanj are utilised for transporting ashore the collected seeds. Mithila fishermen, mostly belonging to the Banpar sub-caste, do have this monopolistic expertise and as such are hired for harvesting the seeds in Assam beels also. There is a need to make a detailed study on this (seasonal) migration vis-à-vis its impact on the dual economy of north Bihar and lower Assam. Wild populations of Makhana are also available in Manipur lakes. Meitei tribals in the Manipur valley utilise several non seed parts including young petiole, leaf, fruit coat, placenta and also the young seeds for preparing vegetable dishes. No such practice of utilisation of vegetative parts, however, exists in north Bihar. This could be experimented upon to its logical conclusion that   Makhana ponds do have an excessive number of young plantlets during December-January. The overgrowths have to be thinned out to facilitate the maximum expansion of only the required number of plants. The giant leaves occupy a large space.

Makhana growing water bodies are ideal reservoirs for air-breathing fishes like Singhi, Magur, Kawai etc., which derive their nutrition from the heavy organic detritus in the pond bottom. Leathery leaves during the peak growth period of the plants (between April to July) hardly leave any open surface to facilitate the dissolution of atmospheric oxygen to the pond water. Dearth of dissolved oxygen in the arched water surface makes it unsuitable   for the growth of carp fishes. Progressive fish farmers, however, have now made it possible to derive maximum productivity by reaping the benefits of both catfishes as well as carp fishes. This is accomplished by leaving sufficient open spaces in the middle of the ponds. Makhana ponds could also be used for rearing fishes as well as for nursery ponds during September to January, which is the intervening period between the two successive Makhana crops (Verma et al. 1996; Ahmad and Singh 1997).

Faulty flood protection measures have led to an increase of spate areas in   Bihar to 69 lakh hectares of which about 9 lakh hectares face prolonged inundation. This is as against only 25 lakh hectares land area, which was affected in the pre-embankment dispensation (Mishra 2000). It is beyond the capacity of this fund starved state to meet the demand of draining out the inundated chaurs . The ‘new' water pockets could also be utilised for intensive aquaculture by integrating the cultivation of fishes, Makhana and other aquatic fruits. Makhana cultivation could be extended to the hitherto non-traditional water-logged areas of the state through soil amendment practices.

Makhana is an under-exploited and under-investigated crop. As per a rough estimate 20,000 quintals of Makhana worth Rs.   10 crore are produced annually of which Madhubani, Darbhanga and Katihar districts contribute the lion's share. However, there is a need of making an extensive survey on its actual coverage and production in north Bihar, lower Assam and other places in India as well as abroad including Japan, China, North America, parts of Korea etc.

No work has been done on evaluation of taxa at various   levels. As of now, it is a monotypic genus with about half a dozen other species having become extinct. A number of fossil reports from European countries confirm this fact. Evolutionary scientists believe that a past introduction of Makhana , lotus and a host of other aquatic plants from European lakes to Asia was made through bird migration. There is a need of developing better varieties from the wild populations found in Assam, Tripura, Manipur, West Bengal (and Bangladesh as well), Kashmir lakes and parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bastar area in Madhya Pradesh etc.

Good quality Makhana , usually called rasgulla (or lava ), constitutes roughly 54 per cent of pops, followed by 35 and 11 per cent respectively of the medium quality murra and the low grade thurri types. Best quality pops are usually beyond the reach of the common man even in the area where it is grown. The crop often suffers from   dearth of water during the peak period of growth. This leads to seeds remaining half mature and causing the formation of low-grade pops.

Makhana is transported to different parts of India mostly by rail. The railways charge their freight as per the volume occupied by the Makhana bags, which contain an average of 8 kg of the grade one pops. This makes its price higher. Makhana farmers are complaining of not getting commensurate returns from the crop. Pops have a high volume to weight ratio. There is a need to convert the produce into flattened and powdered forms and also to produce value added forms through modern food processing methods. This could help fetch higher monetary returns from Gulf and European countries where it is exported. Research on this line is the need of the hour.

Makhana crop is badly damaged by at least three major insect and two fungal pests (Table-1). All these pests inflict heavy loss to the crop productivity.

TABLE-1: Factors adversely affecting the growth of Makhana Crop.

Investigations are required to make the harvest and post-harvest operations less arduous and less time consuming. Fisher women are normally involved with pop-making and have to work with fire for longer periods. A popping machine designed earlier by the CFTRI, Mysore could not find acceptability with the farmers. Another one designed at the post-harvest technology centre of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur is yet to be fabricated and tested at field level for its suitability.

A major share of the profit in Makhana industry is usurped by the middle men. The producer's share in the consumer price is only 53 percent and the remaining 47 per cent is absorbed in different marketing functions (Prakash and Choudhary 1994).

Makhana plants could thrive well in ponds with water depth of one metre or even less. Shallow plots are now being utilised for rotational cultivation of Makhana with potato or wheat as an arable crop in the same plot (Mahto and Jha 1998). Ensured water supply could help carry out this endeavour on a larger scale. Farmers take advantage of this option by transplanting young Makhana plantlets during late March or early April. They plant a wheat variety early during December by draining out the water and harvesting the crop latest by March end. Farmers in Kosi belt in Saharsa district are trying this option in a better way. With ground water table relatively higher in this region, it is   cheaper for them to ensure irrigation with the help of bamboo borings.

Besides Makhana, these wetlands produce a number of other plant products utilised as food. The most significant one is Singhara ( Trapa natans ), which has a high biological value (Jha 1999). Earlier the hard-coated, four spined quadrispinosa variety was locally available. This has now been replaced with the superior soft coated, 2-spined variety. Other products   like Khubahi-ramdana ( Scirpus articulatus ), Bhent ( Nymphaea spp.), Kamalgatta ( Nelumbo sp.),   are used in seed forms. Those utilised as underground forms include the Lotus rhizome, Kesaur, Saruk, Chichorh, Karahar etc. Leaves of Karmisaag ( Ipomoea aquatica ) and Sarhanchi ( Alternanthera spp.) are utilised mostly as greensalong with fishes, molluscs, crab, prawn etc. as the wetland animal products. Plant products also serve as a promising source of protein, carbohydrates and minerals. No proper significance is attached to them on account of free availability. People should be properly educated about the nutritional significance of wetland products. It is high time primary health care system took due notice of these water plants.

Preliminary investigations have revealed higher contents of residual pesticides in seeds and other parts of Makhana and other aquatic plants. This is because of pesticidal inflows from nearby arable fields along with the rainwater. Their amounts are often higher then the FAO/WHO standards and may prove a deterrent to the export feasibility of these products (Rai et al. 2002).

Flood plain wetlands like Kawar, Kusheshwarasthan, Baraila, Gogabeel, Khemait, Simribakhtiyarpur etc. are the prominent sites of resident and migratory birds in north Bihar. Wetland rice varieties and rhizomatous plants attract migratory birds during winter season, which in turn, make the water bodies more fertile with their excreta. Kawartal in Begusarai district, known for its rich biodiversity has been declared as the first Ramsar site in the state. On account of larger water spread area and the number   of visiting birds, Kusheshwarasthan wetland also deserves the same treatment (Majumder et al. 1988; Yahya 1994; Sharma & Datta Munshi 1995; Jha and Chandra 1997 etc.).   

Andharatharhi pools in Madhubani district have been famous for their multi splendoured lotus varieties vernacularly known as satadalkamal, sahasradalkamal etc. There is a need to take   steps for the conservation of endangered lotus varieties in this district. More stress on the Makhana and fish cultures also has played a negative role in the gradual shrinkage of lotus coverage. While pink variety is still available, white lotus has become sporadic. Reports available speak of its confinement to Laukahi area on Indo-Nepal border from where it is supplied to the nearby markets on festive occasions.

Water-bodies in north Bihar harbour a vast magnitude of water hyacinths dominated by kechuli ( Eichhornia crassipes ). This floating aquaphyte propagates at a very fast rate and provides shelter to the mosquitoes as causal organisms of several vector borne-diseases in human beings. It is particularly instrumental for mass mortality of cattle with no option other than feeding rather exclusively upon its fronds in areas, which remain engulfed for months together. Mollusc eggs attached with the hyacinth fronds are the vectors of cattle diseases like schistosomiasis, liverfluke etc.

There is a need to devise a proper wetland management strategy aimed at utilisation of the hyacinth biomass for generation of compost, biogas etc. Pigs also feed upon this hyacinth rather voraciously but remain relatively unharmed on account of their physiological adaptation. This area has all the potentials for enhanced pig rearing under integrated piggery-cum-duckery-cum-pisciculture exercise. A recent technology developed in Britain to extract a protein rich curd from the leaves of this hyacinth could be made available to the farmers in the inaccessible flood areas for extracting emergency rations. Leaves could also be turned into suitable fodder by proper ensilaging.

There is a need to raise the water storage capacities of the ponds. For want of proper upkeep most of them are on way to dereliction. Ponds were well managed under ownership of the erstwhile Darbhanga Raj, which transferred their ownership to the Government of Bihar after the abolition of zamindari. This could be achieved through incorporation of pond renovation work under the rural employment schemes. This will help strengthen both irrigation as well aquaculture   potential of these water bodies.

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