While working with farmers in Pali district I came across a local land race of wheat which is popularly known as kharchia wheat in the entire district. It is a very interesting to know as to how this variety get this name. Actually the origin of this wheat is from Kharchi village and the village was named kharchi due to high salt content in the soil and water available here.In local dilalect kharch means salt. Kharchia wheat is universally recognized as highly salt tolerant wheat genotype. This local land race is extensively used for the development of high yielding saline resistant variety namely Kharchia 65, KRL 1-4, KRL 39 and KRL 19. The metabolism and uptake of mineral get affected due to high concentration of salt in the soil. However, Kharchia can withstand the effects of salinity more efficiently. This is being used as the base material for the development of salt tolerant wheat variety not only in India but in other countries as well. Considering its potential value for future Crop Improvement programme, it has been registered in the NBPGR, New Delhi by the Directorate of Wheat Research, Karnal vide registration number INGR 99020. The Kharchia wheat is grown in kharchi village for a number of generations. The main region of growing this cultivar is high tolerance of salinity. Very low irrigation is required for kharchia wheat than other hybrid wheat varieties and at places where water is not available. It is also grown as rain fed on conserved soil moisture. Another feature of this variety is the plants are tall with more straw content so that the farmer gets more fodder along with grains for feeding to animals. The animals like the straw of kharchia wheat more than other wheat straw.
USES OF KHARCHIA WHEAT :
It is primarily used for making chapatis. Taste of chapati is sweet and stays fresh for longer time.
It is also used for making Dalia. Dalia is very tasty and fed to pregnant lady before and after delivery for better health care of mother.
In storage no insect- pests are attracted on grains, hence it can be stored for long duration.
It has high water use efficiency hence Dalia prepared from kharchia is very tasty and nutritive.
It is also used for making ladoos by mixing sugar or jaggery with dry fruits which are used for feeding pregnant women.
Used for making bati and churma (famous Rajasthani dishes).
Realizing the importance of this local land race we documented and applied for the PPV&FR Authority, New Delhi Plant Genome Saviour Community (PGSC) Award for kharchi village community . These awards are conferred every year to group of farmers and particularly the tribal and rural communities engaged in conservation, improvement and preservation of genetic resources of economic plants and their wild relatives particularly in the areas identified as agro bio-diversity hot-spots. ┬аThe Authority constituted six teams for on-spot verification of the activities of the applicants finalized for Plant Genome Savior Community (PGSC) Awards, 2012-13. Finally the community of farmers, Kharchi village got this prestigious award which consist of a cash of Rs. 10 lakh, a citation and a memento which are given away by Honorable Agriculture Minister in a special function convened by the Authority at NASC Complex, New Delhi.
FARMER COUPLE WITH PREPARATIONS MADE FROM KHARCHIA WHEAT
ABOUT KHARCI VILLAGE
LOCATION
Kharchi village is located 32 Km towards East from district headquarters Pali. It is a Gram Panchayat and has major contribution in the cultivation of Kharchia wheat. The total geographical area of this panchayat is about 12,224 sq km. Out of which 85 per cent of land area is used for agricultural practices with only four percent is irrigated area. Livestock is also one of the important sector allied with agriculture. The agro based industrial sectors of this district includes mainly henna industries, dal industries and milk processing plant.
Kharchi has its own historical background during the time of Jog Maya Mandir. At that time, Kharchi village was the main business centre and marketing place for surrounding three villages and Panchayat Samiti Marwar Junction. This village and its surrounding land is so much affected by salt that it seems that someone had deposited a salt layer on the soil. Due to deposition of salt the land turns white from above and locally it is called as Kharach so by this character the village got the name Kharchi. Agriculture is the main occupation of the village people. Cluster bean, Moong, Til are grown in Kharif and Kharchia Wheat, Chickpea, Cumin, and Barley in Rabi is the major agricultural crops. Dairy sector is emerging in the village and currently the village is producing about 2500 litters milk per day and main animals like cattle, buffalo, sheep and goat. Ber, aonla and lahsora are the main horticultural crops of Kharchi village.
CLIMATIC CONDITIONS
Arid to Semi-arid, 20-250 C
SOIL TYPE
Loam to sandy loam, salinity is predominant
SEED RATE
100-120 kg/ha (depending on soil type).
METHOD OF SOWING
Under conserved moisture conditions Under irrigated condition: 4-5 irrigation
YIELD
16-32 qt/ha. (Depending upon the quality of salinity of soil and water indicating the lowest and highest yield)
MAJOR PESTS
Termites
DISEASE
Yellow rust, Black smut
QUALITY PARAMETERS OF KHARCHIA WHEAT:
S.N.
CHARACTERISTICS
KHARCHIA WHEAT
NORMAL WHEAT
1.
Grain Color
Red
Generally Amber
2.
Grain Texture
Semi-Hard
Semi Hard To Hard
3.
Chapati
1.Soft (soft for eating and can be used for two days) 2. Chapati prepared in morning is used with butter milk in the after noon gives more taste
1.Soft-semi-soft (can be used up to 4-5 hours on the same day only 2. Soft-semi-soft (can be used up to 4-5 hours on the same day only
4.
Dalia
1.Absorbs plenty of water for cooking and gives more quantity after cooking. 2. Gives more taste due to absorption of more water
1.Absorbs less water 2.less tasty as compared to kharchia wheat
5.
Bran
More bran
Less bran
6.
Khichdi (Dalia+dal +ghee)
Given to the pregnant ladies, being light, there is less pressure on other body parts. It is light for stomach, increases blood and gives energy.
Normal
7.
Salt affected water Yield
High production 16-32 qt/ha
Low production 10-15q/ha
8.
Straw yield
More due to tallness
Less due to short height
9.
Marketing approach
Used by local people migrants from this region prefer to purchase bulk stock for the entire year from illagers/growers directly.
Well established market channels.
FARMERS OF KHARCHIA VILLAGE RECEIVING AWARD
Since, the land of the village is mostly saline, therefore, Kharchia a local land race of wheat is cultivated in the village Kharchi and adjoining area in Pali District of Rajasthan. The Kharchi village is having 1200 bighas under kharchia wheat. The average yield of the Kharchia wheat is about 16-30 quintal per hactare. The yield potential is lower when cultivated in the saline soil and the yield increases, if the irrigation facilities are available and land is normal. The farmers only use Farm Yard Manure (FYM) in the fields. The Kharchia wheat is cultivated on conserved moisture mostly and without use of chemical fertilizers. Kharchia local is shared with surrounding villages and therefore it is cultivated in the neighborhood villages. The village is also visited by farmers of other places like Chennai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad who visit them for purchase of Kharchia wheat for consumption and sowing purpose, who are well aware about its quality. Most of the villagers have confirmed the information about the Kharchia wheat landrace and its salient features. Out of interaction from the women folk, it was ascertained that the Kharchia wheat land race is very nutritive and healthy and the laddu and barfi are also made out of flour of Kharchia wheat by adding sugar and dry fruits.┬а These ladduтАЩs are given as a nutritive dish to the mother of the infants (newly born baby) a week or ten days after delivery. The dalia and lapsi are also commonly used in the houses for daily use in the breakfast. It was also informed by the women that the wheat flour absorbs high quantity of water in the kneading of dough and the keeping quality of chapatti remain fresh within 24 hours and never dries up like other wheat varieties.
Sometimes the bright colors of the flowers and sometimes their sweet fragrance attracts bees, insects, butterflies and birds who extract the nectar of flowers, and helps in the process of pollination. Pollination is a process in which the male part of the flower – the pollen grain from the anther, reaches the stigma female part of the flower from some medium (air, water, bird, insect, etc.) and fertilizes the eggs in the ovary.In the desert of Rajasthan, when the Rohida trees undergo mass blooming with yellow, orange and red flowers, during this time, there is an interesting behavior between the red-vented bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer) and the purple sunbird (Cinnyris asiaticus) foraging around these flowers. This behavior shows many interesting aspects of pollination.
Photo By Dr. Dharmendra Khandal
The “Tecomella undulata”, found mainly in Rajasthan, which also has the status of state flower, is found especially in the desert areas of Rajasthan. It is an deciduous tree of the family Bignoniaceae, and similar to тАШFlame of the ForestтАЩ (Butea monosperma), Rohida also undergo тАШmass bloomingтАЩ, in the spring season. Rohida is of high ecological and economic significance to Rajasthan, especially in the desert regions where it flourishes on sand dunes. . It can tolerate both, extreme low temperatures (about тИТ2 ┬░C) and high temperatures (about 50 ┬░C) which is why it is also probably termed the тАШDesert TeakтАЩ or тАШMarwar TeakтАЩ. It is known for its strong and durable wood quality. Today high anthropogenic demand, coupled with the fact that Rohida are тАШslow growersтАЩ, has lead to the tree being included in the IUCN Red List of threatened species. Rohida currently faces a high risk of extinction and its future remains uncertain today.
Its flowers are of the shape of a trumpet – from which birds extract nectar in two ways – either by putting their head inside the flowers; Or by making holes through its beak directly on the base of the flowers without aiding pollination. This behavior is also called Nectar robbing’ – a method by which animals extract nectar without coming in contact with the pollen of flowers.
Photo by Dr. Dharmendra Khandal
Bulbul extracts nectar by putting his head inside the flower and while doing so Bulbul’s head, and his black head is painted yellow with pollen dust. Whereas the Sunbird extract nectar by making a small hole at the base of the flower without helping in pollination and this process is called Nectar robbing. The reason why a sunbird steals nectar is that it does not easily reach nectar stored at the base of the flower, because the flower is bigger than the sunbird. Sometimes if she puts her head in the flowers, then the anther filled with pollen do not touch her. Because of which she does not participate in the process of pollination.
For a successful pollination, it is very important to have a morphological compatibility between the shape & size of the flower and the shape & size of the beak and head of the bird. That is, Bulbuls appeared morphologically compatible with these flowers, with their larger heads and comparatively smaller beaks, which is why they needed to completely pop their heads inside the flower for nectar and while doing so, their heads may have come in direct contact with pollen. In comparison, sunbirds having smaller heads and needle-shaped long beak sizes indulged in extracting nectar with minimal contact to pollen in the flowers.
Photo by Dr. Dharmendra Khandal
In this process, the sunbird is completely established as a parasite, but we look deeply, even if the sunbird steals nectar from the flowers, it also indirectly helps in pollination. As during the nectar robbing sunbird visit multiple Rohida flowers at a higher frequency, thus increasing competition and influencing bulbuls to visits multiple trees in adjoining areas. This symbiotic behavior between the birds may indirectly helped Rohida trees in cross pollination.
In fact, both sunbirds and bulbuls play an important role in pollination, but in this case bulbuls can be termed as “true pollinators” and sunbirds are “influencers”. Similar observations have also been given in a research paper entitled, “Nectar robbing positively influences the reproductive success of тАЬTecomella undulata” where the Purple Sunbirds foraging techniques were correlated to positively affect on cross-pollination in Rohida.
Birds have a very significant role in the process of polination of Rohida Photo by Dr. Dharmendra Khandal
Like the sunbird, the bulbuls also makes holes at the base of the flowers, and two different types of markings are often seen on the flowers falling from the trees – such as small holes on the base of some flowers, and large oval holes in some. By looking at the size of birds, it is clear that small holes are made by sunbirds and large holes are made by bulbul. Apart from this, it is also seen that on coming into contact with the bulbul, many times the soft flowers also broke and fall. It may be that the purpose of the bulbul is not to get nectar from the flowers, but only to break them. If flowers are seen falling from the trees, it is found that most of the flowers are not naturally wilted but broken by birds (especially bulbul), or broken by their carelessness. According to a study done by Dinesh Bhatt and Anil Kumar (Fortkail 17, 2001) on the eating ecology of red-vented bulbul in India, it could be attempts of bulbuls to feed on Rohida petals. On the other hand, these fallen flowers are eaten by Chinkara (Gazella bennettii) and Nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus) etc. and this shows the commensalism between the red-vented bulbul and antelope.
So, this time, when rohida flowers blossom in the month of February-March, try to see this behavior between different birds with Rohida flowers.
(Translated from Hindi to English by Ms. Payal Tatwal)
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