Makhana & other Aquatic Resources for Livelihood Diversification in Bihar

Makhana or Gorgon nut is cultivated in the stagnant pools of Northern Bihar,
Uttar Pradesh, Lower Assam, Manipur, Orissa, .Jammu and Kashmir etc. Its wild
varieties are also found in Bangala Desh, Japan, China, Russia etc. The Makhana-
fish combined cultivation provide sustenance to thousand of members of the
fishing community. Makhana has nutritional and medicinal properties, and
generates scope of improving cottage industries. Therefore, as there is a great
export potential of this crop. The government of India has launched, several
schemes on the crop. It is high time that steps were taken to boost our country’s
economy by harnessing its natural resources to the optimum.
The harvest of makhana from the beds is an arduous task performed traditionally
by fishing community. Thousand of stagnant pools spread over northern and
north- eastern India and abroad hold a great promise in this direction. The
integration of ‘makhana‘ with fish culture will definitely enhance the aquatic
productivity, which will alleviate the income and economic conditions of the
resources among poor farmers of the region. It is expected that this effort would
fill in the gap existing in this field and shall be able to attract attention of the
upcoming research workers, social scientist, agricultural scientists and planners
etc.