What do Kadaknath chicken & betel nut have in common?

Khukumani Mallick resides in Mallabari village in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, around 25 kilometres from Siliguri, the gateway to north Bengal. Her house is barely one kilometre away from the neighbouring country of Nepal.

The 50-year-old says that livelihood opportunities are limited in the border areas but still, she thanks the tall areca nuts trees and Kadaknath breed of chicken for helping her to run her family. 

“We live in a border village with very limited livelihood avenues but areca trees and Kadaknath chicken helps us to survive and supplement the family’s income,” she told VillageSquare. 

But she is not alone. Several hundreds of women are doing poultry and areca nuts farming to run their livelihood and supplement their family income in north Bengal. 

Livelihood avenues 

Kadaknath is an Indian breed of chicken having black flesh and it originated from Dhar and Jhabua districts of Madhya Pradesh. These birds are mostly fed by rural and tribals and the breed has a Geographical Indication (GI) tag that was approved by the central government in 2018. 

Areca nuts or betel nuts are also grown extensively in West Bengal, particularly in the northern portion of the state which accounts for 47.66 per cent of the total areca nuts area in the state and 45.93 per cent of the total areca nuts production.  

The two districts of north Bengal, Coochbehar and Jalpaiguri, account for 89.94 per cent and 89.37 per cent of production as per a study done by Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya. http://ndpublisher.in/admin/issues/EAV60N4f.pdf

Highly profitable

Bimala Mallick, 23, a mother of a two-month-old says, that the chicken and areca nuts help her to earn income while staying indoors. 

We also grow vegetables and other crops but most of them are seasonal and the production is mostly used for self-consumption. We generate a small income by selling them in the market but areca nuts production is a lucrative business

“It is almost impossible to go outside and earn because of the small child. But the chicken (Kadaknath) is sold at a price of around 400 Kg per kg which is a good price if the chicken attains 3-4 kg of weight. It is in demand because of its high nutritional value and people book orders months in advance,” she says as she feeds the chicks. 

Sabina Mallick, 33, who has around 200-250 betel nuts trees, says that she gives them on lease every year.

“We give the trees on lease to farmers at a total payment of around Rs 70,000-80,000 annually.  The trees produce around 20 quintals of betel nuts annually that the farmers take away. Trees that bear more fruits are in high demand,” she said.

The area is surrounded by 20,000-25,000 betel nut trees that provide handsome income to the farmers. 

“We also grow vegetables and other crops but most of them are seasonal and the production is mostly used for self-consumption. We generate a small income by selling them in the market but areca nuts production is a lucrative business,” said Tara Mallick, 45, a homemaker.

Amrendra Pandey, technical officer at the Department of Biotechnology, University of North Bengal, told Village Square that every Bengal household in north Bengal has a minimum of 40 to 500 maximum areca nuts trees and the families easily earn around 10,000 to 1.5 lakh annually. 

“Kadaknath breed has been recently introduced in this region and within a few years it has gained immense popularity and has become the source of extra income for families as the meat is in demand because of its nutritious value. People are breeding it for higher income,” he said.

Jumbos attack

The women farmers, however, say that they also suffer from the elephant attacks that destroy their betel nuts trees causing losses to them.

“The jumbos are a real problem for us because they attack and destroy our crops and trees. Even our houses are ravaged. We stay inside our houses and do not come outside when they enter the village in hordes to save our lives. But the state government should do something about it as we are suffering losses,” Sarita Mullick, 27, a homemaker told Village Square.

She further rued that the jumbo attack has led to an increase in man-animal conflict in the area, which is dangerous for both sides. 

Rajkumar Rezal, president of Mechi border eco-tourism says, that the area has a good potential for eco-tourism, “Our village is located close to Mechi, a transboundary river between India and Nepal and the area has a lot of greenery. It can be utilised to attract tourists as it would also generate additional livelihood opportunities for us.”

He further pointed out that the locals can also build homestays for the tourists. 

Senior government officials on condition of anonymity said that the government has already been developing tourism in other parts of the district, “The state government is already serious to promote tourism as it’s the main source of revenue in north Bengal that has tea gardens and hills. We are yet to think about developing tourism in border areas of Nepal. But the locals can certainly get additional livelihood if we promote it.”

The lead image at the top shows Sabina Mallick holding betel nut fruit (Photo by Gurvinder Singh)

Gurvinder Singh is a Kolkata-based journalist.