Can India’s heritage produce find a place on the global food map?

Over the last few years, the farm-to-table trend has put a lot of variety on our plates. Think indigenous ingredients such as native greens and nuts, different ways of cooking, and a deeper understanding of India’s vast agricultural ecosystem that extends into our forests and villages. Having said that, how often do these ingredients make their way into the mainstream culinary ecosystem? Om Routray, founder of agri-food thinktank Indian Culinary Agenda and its parent organisation, Vrihi Foundation, aims to change this with a policy report on India’s heritage produce that launched recently. A close-up shot capturing the ripening clusters of Carissa carandas, commonly known as Karonda or Bengal currant | Photo Credit: Jayantibhai Movaliya Covering both agriculture and forest produce, the report — created alongside The Asia Foundation and social enterprise Ekgaon — aims to not only spotlight India’s vast agricultural heritage but also proposes an operational framework with GI tagged commodity value chains, and awareness among policy makers and consumers. Elaborating on the stakeholders and researchers involved in the project, Om says that the team studied producers, processors, retailers, culinary schools, and Government agencies. Om, who has been working on digital technologies in agriculture for a decade, talks about how the startup he worked for operated in 37 countries, but never really took off in India. “The realisation came that no matter how much we work on the agriculture side, unless we work on the complete value chain, commodity ecosystems will not be elevated as a whole. The subsequent onslaught of ingredients such as California almonds, Australian lamb, etc. also demonstrated that we are not being fair with the agro-forest heritage that we have,” he says. Turmeric root | Photo Credit: Nikhil Patil The report makes a case for Indian produce such as turmeric, jamun, mahua that are ‘uniquely Indian and most are rare outside the subcontinent’. While some are GI-tagged, there is a lot that needs to be done to fully tap their potential as ‘the impact of the certification has not been uniformly beneficial and, in many instances, not equally distributed’. “Kandhamal turmeric is a great example,” says Om. “Both individual farmers and Kandhamal as a district have not benefited much from the GI tag and the constant spotlight that the commodity has brought. For instance, there are no upmarket retail stores nor any processing capacity built in the district.” The report also spotlights the fact that most commodities are facing climate-related challenges. For instance, jamuns from Jambhulgaon in Maharashtra are facing yield and harvest issues due to unseasonal rains shifting flowering. Also, women majorly collect and process most heritage commodities and there have been very few technological interventions to remove drudgery. Jamuns at a street market in New Delhi | Photo Credit: MelanieMaya So, how can things change? The report makes a case for import substitution by increased utilisation of indigenous commodities by promoting them better, and bringing in a strong supply chain. Take, for instance, nuts. “We have floated the idea of a Himalayan Nuts Association that promotes indigenous nuts on the lines of California almonds. Many chefs are using jamuns instead of blueberries in cheesecakes. We have not even scratched the surface when it comes to indigenous mushrooms,” explains Om, while sharing the example of mahua syrup. “It is already seeing early adoption as a replacement for maple syrup across bakeries and restaurants. Mahua resins are a great substitution for imported resins and a similar case can be made for indigenous dry fruits.”The report also highlights the need for diversifying India’s export basket, the bulk of which comprises rice, wheat, etc. Om says that the team has recommended two paths. “One is to de-focus from generic exports. For example, there may not be much long-term value in exporting dragon fruits from Odisha as there is no reason why global markets will perceive it as a premium product. So, we must do a terroir-culture fit before introducing new commodities in productive regions,” says Om. Indian farmer on a rice paddy field in Uttarakhand | Photo Credit: umesh negi But how does one decide what counts as ‘heritage produce’, and how do we keep it from becoming a label that larger firms cash-in on. Om says, “We have created a definition of what should qualify as Heritage Produce. It is now for the funding agencies, Government departments, retailers and farmer coops to adopt. There is no harm in larger farms using the label so long as the producer communities receive the benefits.” Buds of Madhuca longifolia (Mahua) tree | Photo Credit: Ayushi Nayak As for the report’s findings being implemented, Om explains that governments in Telangana, Odisha, and Jharkhand have shown interest in their findings. “Culinary schools, IHM Dehradun, and Symbiosis, Pune, have shown interest in updating their curriculum to include local ecological awareness. We are launching an incubation programme with Atal Incubation Center in Bhubaneswar to promote innovation in indigenous commodities from the East. The success is in incremental changes across the board, and we are seeing early signs of it,” he concludes.