Mote Majra draws attention for growing water chestnuts
Akash Ghai
Tribune News Service
Mohali, October 24
A village located along the Landran-Banur road has become a centre of attraction for the commercial harvesting of water chestnuts (popularly called singhara) in its five-acre community pond.
If crop producer Wasim’s statement is anything to go by, Mote Majra is the only village in the area where water chestnuts are being grown.
“Every year, we get more than 65 quintals of water chestnuts from the village pond and it is supplied to Mohali, Chandigarh, Kharar, Morinda, Ropar and Panchkula,” says Wasim.
Wasim learnt the technique of farming water chestnuts from his father. He claims that his extended family has taken after the business in Haryana, including Ambala, Jagadhari and Yamunanagar.
“Though most villages in the area have water ponds, they are not fit for cultivating water chestnuts. The produce needs clean water,” he adds.
“In fact, our family has monopoly in the business as others are not keen to harvest this crop. It’s a tedious process and requires a lot of hard work,” he says.
Talking about the tedious process of cultivating the crop, he shares, “One has to use inflated tubes of truck tyres to reach the crop in deep water.”
“Every corm of water chestnut needs intense care and a regular check on its growth. It takes one year for the crop to mature,” he adds.
“The pond, which attracts many migratory birds every year and is also used by the village livestock, earns a handsome amount of profit for the village panchayat, which leases the water body for producing water chestnuts to farmers/producers. We only make about Rs 300 on a daily basis,” says Wasim.
