RAMAMANGALAM, 35 kilometres from Kochi, is a sleepy village. But here is being scripted a success story, in a quiet, unobtrusive manner. Where vanilla is there is the smell of money. Ramamangalam is today perhaps the only village in the country where vanilla, the aromatic cash crop, is being cultivated in an organised, scientific manner. More interestingly, it was the first village in the country to be chosen as a model village by the Spices Board for cultivating vanilla, way back in 1991. And ever since, the farmers of this remote village have strived to achieve success.
"Initially, there were only 14 farmers when we decided to cultivate vanilla on an experimental basis, this after a lot of persuasion by the Spices Board officials," reveals K.V. Mathai, a retired banker and secretary of All Kerala Association for Vanilla Cultivation and Marketing, Ramamangalam.
In fact, Ramamangalam was chosen as a model village purely by chance. T. K. Kesavan, the then Assistant Director of Spices Board's Muvattupuzha office, was looking for a village to try out this cash crop. As many of his attempts to find a willing group of farmers and a village literally found no takers, Rajesh, one of his subordinates, requested him to approach the villagers of Ramamangalam, a fertile place situated on the banks of the Muvattupuzha river. This he did and was successful to find a group of willing farmers.
Since they began this cultivation nearly 12 years ago, none of them had any sort of basic idea about vanilla. They were armed only with limited information, that provided by the Spices Board officials. But, despite several such impediments, all the 14 farmers were willing to undertake this experiment on their own plots of land. They were blessed with boundless energy and bountiful enthusiasm, which helped them to tides over all sorts of problems in the initial years. The results were truly rewarding and gratifying. It was an affirmation of their belief that Nature never betrayed those who had a genuine concern for it.
Kerala, from time immemorial, has laid out a red carpet to various types of cash crops. And, even though due to many reasons, some of those cash crops have from time to time shattered the dreams of farmers across the State, vanilla has been a success story, at least so far.
Today, this cash crop has brought fortune to the simple villagers of Ramamangalam. This otherwise nondescript village now has almost 500 farmers, the highest in the country, who are fully immersed in this cultivation. The village is also the highest producer and supplier of natural vanilla in India. Of the annual production, which is around 200 tonnes, Ramamangalam's share is a mind-boggling 120 tonnes.
When in 1991, Ramamangalam decided to step into the world of vanilla cultivation, the farmers were quite unsure of its future. The main worrying factor was that they had to wait for long three years for the plant to flower. To top it all, the artificial pollination had to be done by the farmers themselves. Then in 1994, when the first crop was ready, the farmers faced another hurdle. They had no clear idea about the marketing of the crop. This led them to an essence extraction company, at Kadayiruppu, where the authorities, after a lot of persuasion, decided to accept the crop for Rs. 100 per kilogram. But the next year, the company refused to buy the crop, stating that the crop did not command a good price in the international market.
This spurred the farmers to learn how to process raw vanilla bean. They then sold it to traders from Kumily, who in turn packed the dried vanilla bean in single packets and sold it to the foreign tourists who often stopped at Kumily en route to the famous Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. That year the farmers sold the processed bean to these traders at Rs, 1,600 per kilogram.
Credit for initiating the villagers, who earlier had a bitter experience in dealing with cash crops like rubber and cocoa, should go to the late V.P.Chacko, former president of the Ramamangalam panchayath. Mr. Chacko, a retired schoolteacher, was one of the 14 villagers who volunteered to experiment with this new cash crop.
When the going seemed to be getting a bit complicated by the day, the villagers formed a collective in 1995. Christened the All Kerala Association for Vanilla Cultivation and Marketing, it has today 150 members with representation from across the State. They also bring out a very educative, bilingual booklet on vanilla regularly.
In the beginning the farmers tried this crop in their multiple crop farmlands. Only two hectares of land was earmarked exclusively for vanilla. The success and popularity of this magic crop has forced the farmers to convert nearly 500 hectares, across the country, for this crop. In Kerala alone, Vanilla is grown in 200 hectares of land, with Ramamangalam alone setting apart 75 hectares for vanilla cultivation. Apart from Kerala, many other States like Gujarat, Karnataka,Tamil Nadu and Tripura have also started vanilla farming in a big way.
The future of Vanilla is truly fascinating, since, of the total global consumption only 20 per cent is natural Vanilla and the rest is synthetic. And with the application of Vanilla in clinical treatments like aroma therapy and increased use in confectionary and beverages, the future of vanilla holds good
For the vanilla farmers of Ramamangalam, the big break came in 1996 when AVT McCormick offered to accept raw vanilla bean at Rs. 500 per kilogram. It was a great reward and a morale booster for the villagers who had put their hart and soul into this venture. Today, with the vanilla green bean commanding a steady four-figure price per kilogram, the cash boxes of these enterprising farmers of Ramamangalam have started ringing. And, initially, if the farmers had to approach the buyers with a fervent appeal to accept their yield, today the story has taken a turn-around with all the buyers reaching this remote village twice a week to grab the harvest. In fact, it has the highest concentration of Vanilla farmers in the entire State, perhaps even the country. And for a one-day seminar held recently here more than 500 delegates participated, which was ample proof of the growing enthusiasm among the vanilla farmers.
"Initially, there were only 14 farmers when we decided to cultivate vanilla on an experimental basis, this after a lot of persuasion by the Spices Board officials," reveals K.V. Mathai, a retired banker and secretary of All Kerala Association for Vanilla Cultivation and Marketing, Ramamangalam.
In fact, Ramamangalam was chosen as a model village purely by chance. T. K. Kesavan, the then Assistant Director of Spices Board's Muvattupuzha office, was looking for a village to try out this cash crop. As many of his attempts to find a willing group of farmers and a village literally found no takers, Rajesh, one of his subordinates, requested him to approach the villagers of Ramamangalam, a fertile place situated on the banks of the Muvattupuzha river. This he did and was successful to find a group of willing farmers.
Since they began this cultivation nearly 12 years ago, none of them had any sort of basic idea about vanilla. They were armed only with limited information, that provided by the Spices Board officials. But, despite several such impediments, all the 14 farmers were willing to undertake this experiment on their own plots of land. They were blessed with boundless energy and bountiful enthusiasm, which helped them to tides over all sorts of problems in the initial years. The results were truly rewarding and gratifying. It was an affirmation of their belief that Nature never betrayed those who had a genuine concern for it.
Kerala, from time immemorial, has laid out a red carpet to various types of cash crops. And, even though due to many reasons, some of those cash crops have from time to time shattered the dreams of farmers across the State, vanilla has been a success story, at least so far.
Today, this cash crop has brought fortune to the simple villagers of Ramamangalam. This otherwise nondescript village now has almost 500 farmers, the highest in the country, who are fully immersed in this cultivation. The village is also the highest producer and supplier of natural vanilla in India. Of the annual production, which is around 200 tonnes, Ramamangalam's share is a mind-boggling 120 tonnes.
When in 1991, Ramamangalam decided to step into the world of vanilla cultivation, the farmers were quite unsure of its future. The main worrying factor was that they had to wait for long three years for the plant to flower. To top it all, the artificial pollination had to be done by the farmers themselves. Then in 1994, when the first crop was ready, the farmers faced another hurdle. They had no clear idea about the marketing of the crop. This led them to an essence extraction company, at Kadayiruppu, where the authorities, after a lot of persuasion, decided to accept the crop for Rs. 100 per kilogram. But the next year, the company refused to buy the crop, stating that the crop did not command a good price in the international market.
This spurred the farmers to learn how to process raw vanilla bean. They then sold it to traders from Kumily, who in turn packed the dried vanilla bean in single packets and sold it to the foreign tourists who often stopped at Kumily en route to the famous Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. That year the farmers sold the processed bean to these traders at Rs, 1,600 per kilogram.
Credit for initiating the villagers, who earlier had a bitter experience in dealing with cash crops like rubber and cocoa, should go to the late V.P.Chacko, former president of the Ramamangalam panchayath. Mr. Chacko, a retired schoolteacher, was one of the 14 villagers who volunteered to experiment with this new cash crop.
When the going seemed to be getting a bit complicated by the day, the villagers formed a collective in 1995. Christened the All Kerala Association for Vanilla Cultivation and Marketing, it has today 150 members with representation from across the State. They also bring out a very educative, bilingual booklet on vanilla regularly.
In the beginning the farmers tried this crop in their multiple crop farmlands. Only two hectares of land was earmarked exclusively for vanilla. The success and popularity of this magic crop has forced the farmers to convert nearly 500 hectares, across the country, for this crop. In Kerala alone, Vanilla is grown in 200 hectares of land, with Ramamangalam alone setting apart 75 hectares for vanilla cultivation. Apart from Kerala, many other States like Gujarat, Karnataka,Tamil Nadu and Tripura have also started vanilla farming in a big way.
The future of Vanilla is truly fascinating, since, of the total global consumption only 20 per cent is natural Vanilla and the rest is synthetic. And with the application of Vanilla in clinical treatments like aroma therapy and increased use in confectionary and beverages, the future of vanilla holds good
For the vanilla farmers of Ramamangalam, the big break came in 1996 when AVT McCormick offered to accept raw vanilla bean at Rs. 500 per kilogram. It was a great reward and a morale booster for the villagers who had put their hart and soul into this venture. Today, with the vanilla green bean commanding a steady four-figure price per kilogram, the cash boxes of these enterprising farmers of Ramamangalam have started ringing. And, initially, if the farmers had to approach the buyers with a fervent appeal to accept their yield, today the story has taken a turn-around with all the buyers reaching this remote village twice a week to grab the harvest. In fact, it has the highest concentration of Vanilla farmers in the entire State, perhaps even the country. And for a one-day seminar held recently here more than 500 delegates participated, which was ample proof of the growing enthusiasm among the vanilla farmers.
