Indigo: The return of the blue-chip cash crop

HYDERABAD: Deen Muhammad Umrani, a farmer from Sanghar district, is deeply dismayed as his dreams of reviving the traditional indigo farming on his land have been dashed by an acute dearth of irrigation water in the area.

Umrani claims to have cultivated indigo previous year on experimental basis and prepared the land to resume farming this year, believing it will bring prosperity for his family in terms of better income.

He owns a piece of land near Bakhoro area, once a rich fertile zone of Makhi forest in the district. He has spared two acres of land for this crop and each acre needs 7-8 kilograms of seed.

Umrani is among a group of farmers in four districts to initiate cultivation of indigo, the natural dye crop.

According to Umrani selected farmers from Keenjhar lake, Thatta district, Chondko in Khairpur district, Manchhar in Jamshoro district and Bakhoro in Sanghar district have been motivated by WWF-Pakistan with little incentives of providing seeds to revive the valuable crop after almost 100 years. The seed is costly and unavailable in the open market.

The sowing season starts from March. It gives three crops after three months each during a year. In the first harvest farmers get 30-35 kg per acre yield, 25-30 kg in the second, while at the last one produces 20-25 kg, depending on how much care has been taken of the crop.

Sindh was an attractive place to produce dyes, which were used in manufacturing traditional crafts, like ajrak (shawl), jandi (colurful woodwork) and kashi (blue pottery).

The artisans engaged in aforementioned traditional crafts believe that presently the quality dye produced from indigo was not available in the local market. They have alternatives to continue centuries old crafts. They link these crafts with the River Indus, thick forests, and the precious earth they once used to source from near the river.

Elaborating the importance of river water, land and forest, they believe fresh and silt water of the river and canals, wood and particular mud from lands close to the river were necessary for these ancient crafts.

Presently, it seems the sources of getting entire raw materials like water, wood, and mud are no more accessible to these artisans. That is why they face hardships to maintain the quality of the products produced through those crafts.

The indigo crop consumes less water -mostly after every 15 days. It grows without use of chemical input and considered environmentally-friendly, but it’s fragile. It neither needs more water nor survives in dry conditions.

Obviously, cultivating indigo is the most innovative task, which should be promoted at the government level. These artisan communities are considered to be the main users of this dye. They can very well explain as to why it was abandoned and how to bring it back to refine their crafts.

In fact the artisan communities are facing problems regarding how to keep their traditional art alive because of disappearing natural dyes and raw materials, which are necessary to prepare the valuable items.

The artisans have introduced alternative dyes, prepared from natural items, including a variety of fruits.

Recalling the past, an elderly craftsman said earlier people used to visit their shops to buy dye, locally called neer, for using it with herbal items for medicinal purposes. They believe that now the market value of the dye is appreciating and they could benefit from it by starting indigo cultivation here.

Indigo used to be the main part of the striking colours of ajrak, which is prepared by using more than 10 colours. Earlier, ajrak was warm in winter and cool in summer due to use of natural dyes. But now due to the unavailability of these natural dyes some ajrak manufacturers use chemicals as an alternate to dyes, which does not serve the same purpose.

They want to replace chemicals with natural dyes in manufacturing the indigenous items by revving the cultivating of indigo. It may be the only way out to maintain its natural colouring and perfection.

Talking about the process, farmers say it is difficult to produce dye from plants. They harvest the foliage (leaves) from the plants, put it into a cement pond and after a couple of hours add water and then dry its colour, which is used for manufacturing dyes.

Farmers sell the foliage for Rs800 per kg, grains at Rs1500-2000 per kg as raw product, while the colour is sold at a rate of Rs4000 per kg.

Shakeel Abro, who has a longtime association to provide training to artisan folk in the province and knows about the natural dyes, said indigo farming, taking colours and its value-addition was a complete industry in the past and should be revived to benefit farmers, industry and trade.

Abro belongs to famous artisan's town Hala, Matiari district where these all craftsmen have kept alive the ancient crafts through generations. Besides this town, there are many places situated along the river streams, where these craftsmen are working as per traditions set by their elders.

He said Sindh alone used to produce this crop long ago. “As far as its importance is concerned we can learn from elderly artisans, who may narrate its benefits and how they maintain shining of their products,” Abro said.

He said the initiative was taken for the first time in 2010 to cultivate indigo near Pai forest, Nawabshah district by training farmers and dye manufacturers and linking it to artisans. “Artisans still want to support this initiative at a larger scale, but the gaps on the part of the government and private institutions need to be bridged, recognising it as an industry,” he said.

Abro demanded of the provincial government to realise the importance of this crop, discarded due to many reasons long ago. “It’s time to promote this indigenous crop, which has a value in the local and international market.”

He quoted different companies, which have set up centers at suburbs of Karachi just to procure particular earth for pottery. "We have raw material available near the river, its streams, and lakes. The concerned institutions should take lead to encourage farmers with little incentives to promote this valuable crop,” Abro said.

He stressed that these artisans must have access to these dyes so they may earn fame for the country.

“Despite water scarcity, extra labour, and more challenges, farmers are optimistic to continue to earn more from indigo compared to other crops,” Abro said.

In the end he earnestly appealed to the authorities and industrial/trade bodies to help this long-gone crop become a thriving source of income for farming communities.