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In the heart of the Bundelkhand region, the unique flavour and fragrance of the Desawari variety of paan, or betel leaves, once filled the air. Today, however, this scent is fading, which many locals say is symptomatic of extreme weather events, and environmental degradation caused by unchecked illegal mining and deforestation.
Ramsewak Chaurasia, a retired agriculture scientist from the National Botanical Research Institute in Lucknow, has dedicated his life to increase productivity of Desawari and protect it from diseases. His efforts bore fruit in 2022 when the Mahoba Desawari paan received a Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
“I was born in a family that cultivated Desawari,” Ramsewak says, his voice filled with a mix of pride and concern. “When it received a GI tag, I felt I had repaid my debt to my ancestors. Now I fear that I, and the 22 other families that still cultivate it, could be the last to do so.” His farm is located outside Mahoba town, which is 160 km from Jhansi.
The Desawari cannot withstand waterlogging, making the undulating slopes of Mahoba ideal for its cultivation.
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For nearly a thousand years, it has been grown here, its leaves used not just for their flavour but also in religious rites. A batch of Desawari was despatched from Mahoba to Ayodhya for the consecration of the Ram temple in January.
However, the future of this crop is uncertain. Manoj Chaurasia, a paan seller at the Mahoba wholesale market, and his father, quit farming betel leaves a few years back. “It was too uncertain. For consecutive years, bitter cold destroyed our crop,” Manoj says, expressing his disappointment at the lack of government and institutional support for betel leaf growers.
According to Ramsewak, the acreage under Desawari in Mahoba had grown to 220 hectares with 1,100 families associated with its cultivation. It is now down to barely 10 hectares with 22 families involved in the trade.
“Weather fluctuations, of cold and heat, have impacted its cultivation. I believe it has changed the nature of the soil structure, and this is linked to the widespread environmental degradation of the region, too,” he says.
Local residents and activists, who demand a separate Bundelkhand state, bemoan the rampant cutting of trees and illegal mining in the region. Bhanu Sahay of the Bundelkhand Nirman Morcha recalls a statement made by Amit Shah, then the BJP’s national president, during the 2017 Assembly polls in UP. “He said each Bundelkhandi could get a Maruti car if the illegal mining was stopped in the region,” Sahay says. Unfortunately, the lawyer says, none of the political parties have even promised to stop the environmental damage being wrought here.
Despite the challenges, Ramsewak believes the Desawari of Mahoba could still be saved if the government were to subsidise farmers with input costs.
For cultivating paan, a bareja, or a conservatory that resembles a hut covered with dry grass, is erected. Bamboo sticks support the paan vines, which could last two to three years. Harvesting is done once every month.
“UP’s Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya visited us in 2022 and promised that paan will be included in the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, but the farmers who suffered crop damage never received any compensation,” the scientist claims. “Also, since Desawari is cultivated mostly by landless farmers, it does not receive institutional support, such as bank credit.”
Families associated with betel leaf farming, as also others, have migrated out of Bundelkhand because of water scarcity, poverty, and lack of development for years now.
The local BJP leadership, however, points to the recent infrastructure projects announced for the region, including the defence corridor and the Ken-Betwa Link Project, which it says will bring prosperity to the districts of the region, including Jhansi, Banda, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Lalitpur and Jalaun.
At a public meeting at Hamirpur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of the defence corridor being built in Bundelkhand.
“Our government has started work on the Ken-Betwa Link Project. To solve the water problem for you, our government is spending more than Rs 40,000 crore on this project.”
He said a new chapter will begin in the history of Bundelkhand when this scheme is completed.
The PM accused the previous governments in UP of forcing farmers of Bundelkhand to commit suicide, while “Modi has given Rs 1,800 crore under the Kisan Samman Nidhi in Hamirpur, Jhansi, and Jalaun.”
