Betel leaves (pan) industry in Tirur

Betel

For the mixture of leaf and nut, see Paan. For the biblical place, see Bethel.Betel

A Piper betle leaf Scientific classification

Kingdom:              Plantae

(unranked):           Angiospermae

(unranked):           Magnoliidae

Order:                   Piperales

Family:                  Piperaceae

Genus:                  Piper

Species:                P. betle

Binomial name      Piper betle

The Betel (Piper betle) is the leaf of a vine belonging to the Piperaceae family, which includes pepper and Kava. It is valued both as a mild stimulant and for its medicinal properties.

The betel plant is an evergreen and perennial creeper, with glossy heart-shaped leaves and white catkin. The Betel plant originated from South and South East Asia (India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka).Contents

Vernacular names

 
    The betel leaf is known as Paan in Assamese/Urdu/Hindi/Odia/Bengali, and Tambula and Nagavalli in Sanskrit. Some of the names in the regions in which it is consumed are: Vetrilai Tamil,Tamalapaku 

Telugu, Vidyache pan Marathi, veeleyada yele Kannada, Vettila Malayalam, Plū Mon, Malus Tetum, Maluu Khmer, Plue Thai, Malus Tetum, Bulath Sinhalese, Malu Tokodede, Bileiy Divehi, bulung samat Kapampangan language, daun sirih Malay language, Papulu Chamorro, Ikmo Philippines and Trầu Vietnamese.

 

 

Cultivation

A betel vine

The betel leaf is cultivated in most of South and Southeast Asia. Since it is a creeper, it needs a compatible tree or a long pole for support.

Paan cultivation is a special type of agriculture. High land and especially fertile soil are best for betel. Waterlogged, saline and alkali soils are unsuitable for its cultivation. In Bangladesh, farmers called barui[1] prepare a garden called a barouj in which to grow betel. The barouj is fenced with bamboo sticks and coconut leaves, and on top it is also covered by paddy leaves. The land is dug well and laid out into furrows of 10–15 m length, 75 cm width and 75 cm depth. Oil cakes, cow dung, rotten farmyard manure and leaves are thoroughly incorporated with the topsoil of the furrows and wood ash. The creeper cuttings are planted after proper dressing in the months of May and June, at the beginning of the monsoon season. The plants are neatly arranged in parallel rows about two feet apart, and the saplings are twined around upright sticks of split bamboo and reeds.

Proper shade and irrigation are essential for the successful cultivation of this crop. The plants are regularly watered in the hot months. The leaves of the plant become ready for plucking after one year of planting and the production of the barouj lasts for several years from the date of planting. Betel needs constantly moist soil, but there should not be excessive moisture. Hence, frequent light irrigations are given. The quantity of irrigation water should be such that the standing water should not remain for more than half an hour in the bed. If water logging by heavy rains or excess irrigation occurs, drainage should be arranged immediately. The best time for irrigation is morning or evening.

Dried leaves and wood ash are applied to the furrows at fortnightly intervals and cow dung slurry is sprinkled. Application of different kinds of leaves at monthly intervals is found advantageous for the growth of the betel.

Betel leaf and Areca nut consumption in the world.

In about 3–6 months time, vines grow to a height 150–180 cm. At this stage branching is noticed in the vines. Leaves are removed along with the petiole with the right thumb. Once harvesting is commenced, it is continued almost every day or week. The interval of harvesting varies from 15 days to about a month till the next lowering of vines. After each harvest, manuring has to be done.

There are various types of leaves, the most popular being : Maharajpur (MP),Calcutta, Banarasi, Magahi, etc. In Bangladesh Dinajpur, Rangpur, Chittagong, Faridpur, Jessore, Narayanganj, Barisal and Sylhet are the areas producing the most betel. The harvested leaves are used both for domestic consumption and for export to Middle East, to European countries, USA, UK, Pakistan, and Myanmar. Paan is one of the major economic sources of rural Bangladesh. The best Betel leaf is the "Magadhi" variety (literally from the Magadha region) grown near Patna in Bihar, India. In Kerala, the famous variety of betel leaf is from Venmony near Chengannur and it is called "Venmony Vettila". Betel leaf cultivated in Tirur in Kerala, Hinjilicut in Odisha, Maharajpur and Garhi malahra (MP,India) are of fine quality. Betel leaves exported from Tirur are famous in Pakistan as "Tirur Pan".

Paan

This article is about the chewing mixture. For the leaf, see Betel. For the nut, see Areca nut.

Display of the items used in a chewing session. The betel leaves are variously folded. Slices of the dry areca nut are on the upper left hand and slices of the tender areca nut on the upper right. The pouch on the right has tobacco, a recent introduction.

'Tirur Betel leaf' greatness only for name's sake

Malappuram:-  It was the betel leaf that spread the name of Tirur beyond the borders.  The betel leaf of Tirur was so famous that it reddened the lips of the users in almost all the nations. Even during the times of violence, the betel leaf from Tirur was an inevitable part.  Naturally, the betel-leaf cultivators had a field day during those times.  The fame echoed in Chelakkara village, Thrissur.  It was from Chelakkara that the baskets to export the leaves were brought.  But now the picture is dismal.  The betel leaf industry has been crumbled due to many reasons.  The market, which was once throbbing with business, is now running a nominal number of shops.  The production cost has risen and the price has been dwindling.  Besides, new products like pan parag have accelerated the downfall.  What is to be done?  No answer is forthcoming as for the betel-leaf cultivators.

 

Betel leaves, with love from Kerala to Pakistan                                  

      For decades, the Malabar betel leaf has been a favourite of Pakistanis. No wonder every time relations between India and Pakistan sour, traders here see the juice draining out of their business.

Most of the 2,000-2,500 baskets of betel leaves dispatched daily from Tirur's Vettilangadi, also called Pan Bazaar, are meant for export to Pakistan.The rest of the baskets go to parts of India like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.The Malabar betel leaf is grown in the Tanur, Vylathur, Ponmundam, Edarikode, Arikode, Ponmala and Tirur areas of Malappuram district. Around 100 traders in the region are engaged in the trade.

                                          (A Pakistani Paan Waalah sells Tirur-paan at Karachi)

         Farmers here produce varieties such as Kanni, Pathi and rough Pathi that are a favourite of domestic pan chewers.Although farmers from other parts of Kerala have tried to grow the Malabar betel leaf in their regions, it hasn't quite worked and it continues to be a specialty of Malappuram.

  Agriculture scientists and farmers from various parts of the state tried to grow it. But it does not grow even in neighbouring Kannur, the soil and the wind in Tirur were best suited for the plant.

Fresh betel leaf stems are planted in June and the harvesting takes place from December-June. The villages around Tirur have around 2,000 acres of betel leaf plantation. Interestingly, the betel leaf creepers are planted in between coconut trees.

The packaging of the leaf is also an art. Farmers make a bunch of 100 folded leaves and these bunches are arranged in a bamboo basket and covered with damp hay to keep them fresh.

Most of the betel leaf farmers in Tirur are landless people who take up land on rent for cultivation.

Traders send the leaves twice a week - Monday and Thursday - by train to Delhi and Mumbai. But there are also farmers who directly transport baskets by air from here to Mumbai from where they are flown to Lahore.

Besides farmers, the trade indirectly provides livelihood to thousands of others. Little wonder then that troubled India-Pakistan ties during the Kargil war and the subsequent cessation of air and train links crippled the sector.

After the resumption of air and rail links between the two countries, the sector is now making desperate attempts to revive.

Betel leaves from Sri Lanka have become a threat to the Malabar trade. After Kargil, traders in Pakistan were forced to import from Sri Lanka, from where they could be directly flown to Lahore

The Karachi market alone imports over 165 tonnes of betel leaves from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh every month.

Things are better now. But if the government takes initiatives in permitting direct flights from Karipur (the new Kozhikode airport in Malappuram district), it would make a great difference.

TIRUR (Kerala)

After summit meetings, road and air links, now perhaps it is the turn of the betel leaves to add flavour to the newly-revived bonhomie between India and Pakistan.

Once again, lovers of “Lanka betel” — Malabar betel as it is known in Pakistan — have started hoping to relish their favourite peppery taste at cheaper rates as farmers and traders here have begun praying for the bilateral warmth to continue at least, if not improve.

As an elixir to the industry on its death-bed, the first batch of 2.5 tonnes were air freighted this week as the commercial flights took off from India after a gap of two years, breathing life to the thousands engaged in the sinking betel trade in this Muslim-dominated district of Malappuram.

Out of the total 4.5 tonnes of betel leaves sent in the first flight, this small town alone accounted for 2.5 tonnes and the traders are hoping to send five tonnes per week in the coming days.

The industry was in doldrums and most of the farmers had ceased cultivating the betel. But now, it is good news and it is fresh lease of life,

Since long, Pakistanis have been so charmed with the taste of Malabar betel that the market here got the name of “Pan Baazar” as five tonnes were exported daily during the high time from Malappuram alone, one of the major producing centres in the country.

Besides the hundreds of merchants directly involved, it was the means of livelihood for lakhs of people around working as farmers, workers and those engaged in allied businesses. For at least 15 years since I got into the trade, we used to send betel to Pakistan daily

Adding to the crisis in the face of new bunch of alternatives for chewing, things suddenly went worse with cessation of air links two years back. Even up to the Kargil war, things were moving smooth

The betel town now is a distant cry with only a handful of merchants remaining active in the field after about 80 per cent of farmers quit cultivating due to the declining business.

Even when rail links with Pakistan existed, the traders used to freight the betel bundles upto Delhi and the Pakistan customers bought it before going back to their places.

Betel leaf traders in Karachi and Lahore have probably been the worst sufferers of

Indian ban on flights to Pakistan as it deprived them of good quality and cheap betel leaves, forcing them to import low quality product from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at relatively more cost.

Karachi’s market alone had to import more than 166 tonnes of betel leaves from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh every month, specially after air links were snapped with India. After the ban on flights, Indian betel leaves were imported via Dubai, which ultimately doubled the cost for the traders.

According to reports reaching Tirur, the traders in Pakistan are also overwhelmed with the resumed air links and at the prospect of getting the superior quality leaves at cheaper rates now.