Chubala Shilu
A team of ten eager farmers from four different districts of Nagaland viz Kohima, Mokokchung, Wokha and Phek were sent off on a study tour on spice crops to Kerela, the spice hub of the country. The trip being fully sponsored by the Spices Board of India, Ministry of Commerce and Industry GOI was nothing short of an enriching experience for the farmers who left on their sojourn on the 2 Feb. 2006 from Guwahati, where they met up with the Mizoram team of eleven farmers and Manipur group of nine farmers.
The Naga farmers developed a sense of camaraderie right from day one and our onward train journey treated us with the sights and smells of different locales. As we crossed across the vast countryside of five different coastal states our anticipation grew as to what was in store for us at Kerela. After a journey of 3 days and 3 nights our train finally pulled over at Ernakulam (Cochin) railway station in the early hours of 6 feb.
As our rendezvous and close encounters with the spice country bagan we were taken to visit the Indian Institute of Spices Research experimental farm at Peruvannamuzhi near Calicut, where we were introduced to various varieties of black pepper, tree spices, Vanilla, vermin-compost units and nurseries. Next we also visited the impressive Kerela Agricultural University where we learnt more about many spice crops as well many varieties of medicinal and aromatic plants.
Our visit to Idduki and Periyar district, the two spice growing districts of kerala located high up on the hills of the Western Ghats was an unforgettable experience.
As our bus climbed up the serpentine hill roads we couldn’t help admiring their inter cropping of pepper and arecanut, then there was their virgin forest areas/ social forests below which were covered with acres and acres of cardamom plantations. We were told some of the best varieties were grown in these areas like the ‘Penniyur’ pepper and Allepey Bold or the ‘green gold’ cardamom. We were convinced that Kerela was a land endowed with nature’s bounty and its people were an industrious lot who knew how to make the optimum usage of their land and its resources.
Besides their spicy wealth, we also witnessed huge areas of land under rubber, coffee and tea plantations which were a delight to our eyes. The scenery all along was breathtaking, little wonder that Kerela is referred to as god’s own country with its many fresh water lakes lined up with coconut trees the backwaters of Kerela is surely a paradise for many a tourists who seemed to be enjoying the sights as much as out motley group of 30 farmers from the back woods of NE region were doing.
A visit to the Indian Cardamom Research Institute at Myladumpara was also an eye opener for us as we were shown around their well equipped labs manned by many dedicated scientists who fed us with valuable information, further visits to some progressive farmers farmlands and interaction with them provided us with information on the yield,market value and problems faced by them. We were also taken to some processing and drying units where high levels of quality control tests are conducted to meet the demands of various importing or buyer countries.
At the end of the week long training programme we received certificates from the Director (development) Mr T.D John who took time out to have an informal interaction with the farmers and also exhorted us to promote those spice crops suitable to our areas. Our stay was arranged in comfortable lodges and tourist homes for which we are grateful to the spices board of India, though we as Nagas had to shift from a meaty flavour to a more spicy and nutty flavour! While there the coconut laced dishes got a little heady at times but we managed to survive but am sure most of us mentally promised ourselves not to complain about simple Naga food cos they were a constant craving for most of us!
Our thanks to Mr D Das field officer from Manipur who accompanied us from Guwahati-Kerela-Guwahati, Nani unda (thank you in Malyalam) to Mr Nanda Kumar from head office spices board for being out tour guide throughout our long bus rides, last but not the least our sincere gratitude goes to Mr.Gautam Goswami field officer from Nagaland who nominated each one of us for undertaking this exposure trip which has been an enriching adventure in more ways than one. We believe that you will guide and facilitate us in the coming days.
As we arrived back home on 18 Feb. the flurry of activities in commemoration of the ‘year of farmers’ greeted us, through our experience we hope to put our priorities in order and also encourage other Naga farmers to be producers of spice crops suited to our agro-climatic conditions like ginger, black pepper, tumeric, chillies and many other herbal spices which can be home grown and that some day our state can figure as the spice hub of the region.
(on behalf of the trainees from Nagaland)
