- The Gandhisagar dam’s backwater in Madhya Pradesh submerges farmland for most of the year, making cultivation possible only from March to June.
- Farmers in the dam’s backwater submergence area have adapted to seasonal flooding by cultivating musk melon, which thrives in the limited summer months and provides high revenue from seed sales.
- Local authorities and experts are considering establishing a processing unit in the region to reduce transportation costs and increase farmers’ profits from musk melon seeds.
Manjubai Rathore, 42, from Devran, a village in Madhya Pradesh’s Neemuch district, works as a daily farm labourer on the land of a fellow village resident. Her work is restricted to the summer months when she harvests musk melon and extracts its seeds. About half a kilometre away from where she is currently working, is her farm spread over half a hectare or two bighas. But as she points in that direction, all one can see is water.
“It’s been two years since my land has been submerged,” Rathore says. “But I am hopeful that the water will recede next year and I will be able to cultivate musk melon on my farm.” She is optimistic that a single harvest will compensate for the losses incurred in the last few years.
Rathore and her employer Nemichand Patidar, 63, are among many in their village and 20 other nearby villages in the district whose farmlands are submerged every monsoon due to the backwater from the Gandhisagar dam situated almost 60 kilometres away from the village. The lands are cultivable only for four months of the year.
The farmers have, however, figured out how to optimise the limited summer months and also earn a wholesome revenue by growing musk melon – not for the fruit, but just the seeds. The seeds are sold, while the fruit is left on the farm, acting as natural manure.
Optimising submerged land
Gandhisagar dam was constructed on the Chambal river in Madhya Pradesh in 1960 to provide drinking water to several districts of Rajasthan and generate 115 megawatts of electricity.
For most villages in the Rampur block of Neemuch district, their lands were partially affected due to the dam construction. “My father had received a minimum compensation because our land was only affected after the monsoon period,” says Nemichand. “But unable to make sense of what to do with the land, many people migrated out for work or looked for alternative work.”
The water continues to inundate these lands from after the monsoons till early January when it finally recedes making cultivation possible towards the end of February. The land is optimum for cultivation between March and June, just before monsoons.
“Since for most people the four months were the only months for cultivation and earning an income, they looked for the most profitable crops,” says Atarsingh Kannoji, Deputy Director, Horticulture Department, Neemuch.
“In recent times, musk melon seeds have gained popularity for medicinal use, in food and other areas. After trying their hand at multiple other crops, the people of the villages have been growing musk melon for the past 10 years.”
The seeds have the potential to fetch high returns. One bigha of land (0.6 ha) which needs two kgs of seeds for sowing can result in a harvest that provides 1.5-2 quintals (150-200 kgs) of musk melon seeds for selling.
This year, the best quality seeds are pegged at Rs. 35,000 per quintal.
The residents claim that the introduction of the fruit happened by chance. They recall that about 15 years ago, a group of people from Uttar Pradesh came to their area and leased land to cultivate musk melons. The village residents initially worked as labourers, assisting with the cultivation. Over time, however, they began to cultivate musk melons themselves, earning a revenue they had never imagined.
“We completely depend on the monsoon – the current year and the previous year,” says Balchand Patidar, 52, a farmer. “As soon as the water recedes and the land is approachable, we use the soil moisture to plant the seeds. The soil moisture is enough to reach the flowering stage. At the flowering stage, we need to irrigate the lands once. After fruiting, we require additional hands for harvesting and extracting seeds. This is not as time consuming and does not require constant attention.”
He adds that the other crops they cultivated were time-consuming and did not provide the expected returns. In the past, people had cultivated sunflower, wheat, sesame, but no crop promised the kind of returns that musk melon did.
Financial security with melon seeds
Nemichand owns nearly five hectares of land in his village. With the harvest and selling of musk melon seeds, he is expected to make an income of nearly Rs. 13,50,000 (Rs. 13.5 lakhs) this year. His estimated produce stands at 40 quintals (4000 kg) of musk melon seeds this year.
A generational farmer and a retired official from the district agriculture department, he is unwilling to shift to any other crop on his land. “On an average, I spend four to five lakh rupees (Rs. 400,000-500,000) from seeding to selling the seeds,” he says. “There is still a profit margin of about nine lakh rupees. Where else can I expect such a margin?”
During the 2019 floods in the region, the village was severely affected. The residents fear inundation every year. “We live in constant fear that not just our fields, but one day, our homes will get washed away too,” says Pappu Patidar, 53, a farmer. “The revenue we earn from the musk melon cultivation acts more like a fixed deposit for us, for our secure future. Our yearly expenses are met from the annual crop of soya or wheat that we grow on our small patch of land that is not affected during monsoons.”
Patidar owns a little over half a hectare (0.66 hectares), of land which falls under the backwater area and remains submerged for most parts of the year. He is expected to make a revenue of Rs. 2,60,000 (Rs. 2.6 lakhs) this year from the sale of musk melon seeds.
According to Kannoji of the horticulture department, musk melon is being cultivated across 735 hectares of land in the district. This year, until the end of May, a total of 11,062 metric tonnes (110,620 quintals) of musk melon seeds have been harvested and ready to be sold.
The seeds are extracted from the fruit on the farm, while the pulp is typically left behind to serve as natural manure for the land.
The extracted seeds are soaked in water stored in pits usually created on individual farms. This soaking process lightens the seeds, which are then sun-dried and prepared for dispatch.
Market dynamics and potential for improvement
During the harvest period, the Rampura market in Neemuch is filled with musk melon seeds that are then bought by private contractors. The seeds are transported to Hathras, around 600 kilometres from here, where they are processed and then sold in the market as magaj.
The distance between the source of the seeds and the final market, however, limits the potential return that musk melon plantation promises.
“There is still a transportation cost involved that limits the revenue they earn,” says Yatin Mehta, Deputy Project Director, in the centrally sponsored scheme, ATMA (Agriculture Technology Management Agency), Neemuch. “It (revenue) has the potential to be much higher if we have a processing unit here, which is being duly considered.”
He adds that apart from the seeds, the pulp that is thrown out can also be used as a value-added product. “We are yet to finalise something on those lines.”
The rate at the market also varies every year, depending on the rate in Hathras. “Every morning, we call the processing unit to determine the rates, which usually depends on the quality of the seeds. Lighter seeds are sold at a cheaper price,” says Maqsood, a contractor from the nearby block of Jawad.
The overall rates for the seeds varied between Rs. 27,000-35,000 per quintal this year.
Banner image: Manjubai extracts seeds from the musk melon fruit for further processing. Image by Aishwarya Mohanty.
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