- Soppina betta or betta lands are forest areas assigned to farmers in parts of Karnataka to source biomaterials for agricultural support. The allocation of betta lands to new farmers ceased post 1930s as a means to protect forest areas.
- Over time, betta lands have faced significant degradation due to overextraction and a lack of awareness about their ecological role.
- Now, researchers and areca nut farmers in the state are slowly shifting their focus back on sustainable management of betta lands and their regeneration.
It is a hot summer morning when Madhava Chippali makes his way through his areca nut (Areca catechu) plantation in Chippali, a village in the Sagara taluk, Shivamogga district, Karnataka. He walks through a part of his three-acre plot, stepping over empty rivulets that crisscross the landscape. Towards the edge of the plantation, the ground is a hotchpotch of leaves and twigs from tall, spindly areca nut trees, cacao, jackfruit and coconut. Pepper and betel vines, too, make appearances every now and then.
At one point, the areca nut trees stop, and an endless verdant forest moving uphill comes into view. “This,” says Madhava, waving his hand to emulate the vastness of the woodland behind him, “is a betta land.”
In the annals of forest management, the concept of Soppina betta or betta lands (as they are commonly known) might seem both unique and commonplace. A remnant of colonial laws to regulate forest resources in parts of Uttara Kannada district (later extended to nearby regions like Shivamogga and Chikmagalur), soppina betta (soppu means foliage and betta stands for hills in the Kannada language) refer to forest areas that farmers can access for collecting bioresources like leaves, twigs and mulching material to support their areca nut cultivation.
The allocation of betta lands to new farmers ceased post 1930s as a means to protect forest areas. However, farmers like Madhava, who have been engaged in the practice for many generations, can continue to access their assigned lands for resources.
Historically, the concept of soppina betta was rooted in the sustainable extraction of forest resources, and the protection of trees and sacred groves. In a paper published in 1993, ecologists D.M. Bhat and Madhav Gadgil explain that under the colonial regime, soppina betta lands became a recognised privilege and farmers were allocated between four and nine acres of forest land for every acre of orchard (where areca nut, pepper and cardamom were cultivated). However, irregularities in the concept’s execution, a vested interest in timber, and the subsequent overextraction of these foliage forests led to significant damage of betta lands in the state.
Today, the practice of soppina betta lies at a crossroads amidst mindful farmers who value its ethos, and an altering landscape where agricultural growth and changing climate patterns are threatening its very existence.
Changing landscape of areca nut cultivation
About 75 kilometres from the village of Chippali, in Vaddinakoppa, a village in the Sirsi taluk, agriculturist Jayadev Rao is overseeing the process of labourers adding manure to his areca nut trees. Dark black soil-like mixture is being transported across the plantation in round plastic containers, with each tree receiving a heap of the manure.
The manure, explains Rao, is made by collecting branches with green leaves from betta lands, without destroying or affecting the trees. “The leaves and branches are then mixed with some grass, cow dung and water, and left in large pits, where they compost. The longer you do this, the better the result,” adds Rao, alluding to the enrichment obtained from the compost material.
Rao reminisces about his childhood days when he would play in his family’s betta land and watch people collect fallen leaves and branches without understanding the significance of the process. But over the years, areca nut cultivation in the state has seen inordinate growth, thus ceasing the allocation of new betta lands.
India is the world’s leading producer of areca nut (commonly known as betel nut, although the betel leaves come from a different plant species), contributing to 63% of the global output. Of the 14 lakh tonnes of areca nut produced in India in 2023-24, Karnataka contributed about 10 lakh tonnes across 6.76 lakh hectares—the highest among all Indian states. Over the last decade, the area under areca nut cultivation in Karnataka has more than tripled.
“Areca nut is less resource and labour-intensive compared to paddy, and the work is not as time sensitive as it is for other crops. You can probably push the areca nut harvest by a week, but you cannot do the same when it comes to paddy or other horticultural crops,” says Chippali.
Economic gains from areca nut cultivation have further encouraged farmers to opt for the crop. At the time of writing this article, the market rate for areca nut was more than ₹53,000 per quintal, while for paddy it was around ₹2000 per quintal. Processed nuts can also be stored for several years, making areca nuts an attractive option overall.
The rise of areca nut cultivation, especially in the regions of the state where it was not traditionally grown (such as in Chitradurga, Davanagere and Tumakuru), delinked the intricacies of the process with its natural surroundings and the mindful utilisation of resources from betta lands, shares Madhava.
Rao adds that about five-six decades ago, water was available year-round, owing to water bodies present in and around the forests. “We also had cattle at home, and the collected leaves and twigs were processed within the vicinity. Many of us no longer house livestock, which is why the compost is made elsewhere. There is also an increase in artificial irrigation across areca nut plantations, which was not common before,” says Rao.
The changes to betta lands have occurred against this backdrop of the growing interest in areca nut cultivation. Betta lands themselves have undergone significant degradation, although the extent remains largely unknown. A study published in 1986 noted that about 70% of betta lands in the Uttara Kannada district are destroyed. The current scenario, however, is a lot graver, says Vasudeva R., Dean, College of Forestry, Sirsi.
“Our research (yet to be published) shows that tree cover, tree density, regeneration, as well as the diversity of trees, have gone down significantly in the betta lands of Sirsi. Overall, there is a lack of temporal data on the status of betta lands. Our study highlights their critical state,” Vasudeva explains.
While the extent of betta lands and their degradation needs documentation, isolated studies on forest areas in these regions reveal the immense potential in terms of biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration when betta lands (and surrounding forests) are well maintained. For example, A 2020 study conducted by the College of Forestry, Sirsi, in Joida taluk, Uttara Kannada, shows that the forests in the region sequester about 15.57 million tonnes of carbon. In the forests in the Haliyal taluk, researchers from the institute documented about 40 tree species like teak (Tectona grandis), saja (Terminalia tomentosa) and Indian rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia), among others. In a 2019 article, researchers from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, found that together natural and forest plantations in the Uttara Kannada region sequester about 3.38 million tonnes of carbon per year.
Vasudeva says that a key factor that has contributed to the downfall of betta lands is a lack of clarity about their legal status. “The land belongs to the Revenue Department, and the trees belong to the Forest Department, but it is farmers who utilise the resources. There is a legal tussle going on in terms of rights and ownership,” he adds. As a result, these lands are also not monitored to understand the impacts of the extraction processes.
Over the years, the rules and regulations of accessing biomaterials from betta lands have undergone numerous changes, but largely, farmers can access these lands to obtain bioresources, dig wells, remove soil and harvest timber (once permission is obtained from the Divisional Forest Officer). The Karnataka Forest Manual 1976 also states that farmers are required to protect trees that belong to the reserved species specified in Schedule A (such as guava, mango, bamboo, acacia species, cashew and others). “In fact, planting trees and maintaining tree cover is an essential aspect of utilising betta lands that is often overlooked,” adds Vasudeva.
A report by the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy also highlights that betta lands fall under deemed forests, areas that are not officially recorded as forest land, thus impacting their conservation efforts. For most farmers though, these rules are passed down generationally, and usage is based on what they have observed over the years.
Betta for the better
When farmer Ramesh Hegde talks about his betta land, the pride is palpable. For more than four decades, Hegde has been engaged in areca nut cultivation in his farm located near Sirsi, Uttara Kannada. But in 2016-17 when a drought hit his plantation, he decided it was time to try a different approach. Hegde turned to his betta land and set up rainwater harvesting pits across six acres of the land. “These pits have enabled me to conserve water,” says Hegde who has since worked on adding more tree cover to his betta land.
“Today, I have about 500 varieties of trees and plants in my betta land, ranging from medicinal plants, Garcinia species, cashew nut, jackfruit and mango. My goal is that in four or five years, this land should present itself as a demo plot for students of agriculture and forestry,” explains Hegde. He is working on the biodiversity of his betta land with the help of College of Forestry, Sirsi, and the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad.
Vasudeva shares that betta lands offer an opportunity to establish circa situm conservation, wherein floral species are planted in human-modified landscapes, like farms and plantations, close to their original habitat. “In this scenario, a remnant forest adjacent to the farmland will be maintained by the farmers. We are working with farmers in the region to revive betta lands by planting floral species that are endangered and provide economic benefits. It is important to incentivise the process for the farmers,” he explains.
Rajeshwari N., a professor and the head of the department of extension and communication management at the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) Dharwad, adds that increasing awareness about betta lands outside of areca nut cultivation is essential to drive conservation. In her article on Uppage (Malabar tamarind or Garcinia gummi-gutta) obtained from betta lands, Rajeshwari highlights how these fruits provide a substantial means of income and employment to the farmers of the region.“Betta lands are also rich in several medicinal plants that need to be documented and studied,” she adds.
Hegde also points to schemes such as Krushi Aranya Protsaha Yojane (KAPY) through which the Karnataka Forest Department encourages farmers to increase forest cover by providing seedlings at subsidised rates and incentives for surviving plants.
“Betta land is almost 25,000 to 30,000 hectares in the Kanara circle area. The problem is that it is not contiguous land, and when you look at it as half acre here, and a few acres there, it may not seem important. Collectively, it represents an important landscape that has been ignored. Conservation of betta lands is the need of the hour,” adds Vasudeva.
Banner image: Farmers collect foliage from a betta land. Image by Sharmila Vaidyanathan.
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