Quality pulse
As health connoisseurs turn to horse gram, CHANDRA PRAKASH KALA hopes that the lesser known crop can help transform Uttarakhand's farm sector, in a big way
Horse gram can turn around Uttarakhand's farm sector
IT WAS like a double bonanza. Last month, a childhood friend from my village in Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal district came to see me in Bhopal—my current place of residence. And true to the Garhwali custom, he brought me some gahath or horse gram—a pulse that I relished in my younger days.
Known as Macrotyloma uniflorum in scientific lexion, kulath or kulthi in Himachal Pradesh, kollu in Tamil Nadu, ulavalu in Andhra Pradesh and haruli in Karnataka, the pulse comes packed with nutritional values. But over the time, these flat seeds, bearing light red, brown and grey tints, have fallen out of favour with most people, especially urbanites. This is probably because the pulse has traditionally been utilised to feed horses, and hence the name, or probably because it has not been marketed well. However, it has not lost its charm for the Garhwalis, who still prepare different delicacies using gahath.
Going by the ayurvedic principle, a food item has either heating or cooling effect on our body. But gahath can have both the effects depending on how one prepares it. For instance, during winters most Garhwalis prepare a delicious dal recipe using gahath. This dish, called gathoni, is usually consumed with
rice or chapattis. People believe the dish keeps the body warm even when the temperatures dip to subzero in the higher altitudes. Parathas stuffed with cooked-andcrushed gahath are also a hit in Garhwal. However, if the pulse is cooked after soaking it overnight, it has a cooling effect on the body and can be consumed at any time of the year. Phanu is one such popular Garhwali dish made from soaked gahath (see ‘Recipes’). Those fond of its unique earthy flavour even prepare vadis (sun-dried fritters made out of soaked and grounded gahath) for making instant dishes.
While these dishes are rarely relished outside Uttarakhand and regions where gahath is cultivated, the pulse is slowly becoming popular among health connoisseurs. Vaidya Sohan Lal Badoni, ayurvedic healer from Maletha village in Tehri Garhwal, shares a medicinal property of gahath that makes it no less than a drug. “Regular consumption of the water in which the pulse has been boiled can help one get rid of kidney stones,” Badoni says.
Antidote for farmers too
Traditionally, this super pulse has always been favoured by the farmers of Uttarakhand and adjoining Himalayan regions, where gahath is grown as a kharif crop up to a height of 1,800 metres. During my interaction with farmers in Tehri Garhwal, I was told that like most pulses, gahath grows well in arid areas and does not require much water. Once sown, it is ready to harvest within four to five months depending on the altitude. It is grown solo or at times mixed with other crops as part of baranaja— a traditional cropping method in which 12 varieties of crops are grown together for farm diversification, soil fertility and overcoming adverse climatic conditions.
However, the production of gahath has diminished in recent decades following large-scale exodus of farmers from the hills. But those staying back continue to grow the pulse. Vijay Jardhari, the crusader of Beej Bachao Andolan, an organisation that promotes conservation and cultivation of traditional seeds, explains why farmers are increasingly favouring gahath. “Farmers in most Uttarakhand villages today are discouraged from growing crops due to monkey menace. But monkeys do not raid gahath fields,” he says. In Maletha village, about 80 per cent of the farmers now grow gahath. They mostly sell their produce in Srinagar town, some 8 km away. “I harvest 70 kg of gahath from five nalis (a local land unit under which 1 nali equals 0.02 hectare). The cost-benefit analysis shows a 70 per cent profit margin in gahath farming,” Dayal Semwal, farmer from Maletha, tells me. “On an average each family in the village earns
30,000 per year by selling gahath,” says Mrinal Semwal from Maletha, who plans to set up an enterprise to sell crops unique to Uttarakhand.
Gahath has also made a comeback in Dal Ghati lying between Teen Dhara and Saknidhar in Garhwal. Narrating a popular anecdote about gahath, Ganesh Khugsal, editor of Garhwali magazine Dhad, says: “A widow here did not have resources to plough the fields. So, she scattered gahath seeds on mountain slopes. Blessed with a good yield, she sold gahath to travellers plying between Rishikesh and Devprayag. Since then, others also started growing the pulse.”
Jardhari points out the drawback of growing too much gahath. The pulse cannot be stored for long as it is prone to pest attacks. So, most farmers end up selling their produce at local markets at lower price, Jardhari says. When I visited Bhopal’s New Market area, I found gahath being sold at
160 per kg under the brand name of Tulsi Gold. Compared to this, 1 kg of gahath costs
100 in Srinagar. Wholesalers at Rishikesh sell it for just 70-80. Gahath definitely has a market potential. And there is definitely a way to share the profit with farmers. As rural management expert Prateek Kala points out there is a need to set up farmers’ cooperatives on the lines of Amul so that farm produce can be marketed well. An assured income will not only help check migration from the hills but also ensure that mountain lands are utilised properly.