3 surprisingly unique farming practices around the globe
Every country has different cultures as well as the availability of resources.
Crops, Grains, Aquatic organisms (Carp, Prawns, mussels, etc), are examples of the most widely harvested and cultured farming practices around the world (as most of us are aware of). Integrated practices such as Paddy cum fish culture, duck cum fish culture are also prevalent. The climatic conditions, type of soil, water quality, and certain other factors play a key role in their growth and also their availability. Not every land harvests paddy neither they offer the desirable conditions. So, this calls for certain unique farming practices that are native to certain countries around the world.
LOTUS SILK HARVESTING
Also, known as one of the rarest fabrics in the world, Lotus silk, produced only on small scale across Myanmar, Cambodia, and more recently Vietnam. This natural fiber is only extracted by a few skilled craftsmen across the globe. But making this silk isn't easy. Extracting enough lotus silk for one scarf can take two months and the final product can cost 10 times as much as regular silk.
So how is it made and what makes it so expensive?
As we know silk usually comes from the silkworm. They are kept on wide trays and need to be fed almost 24 hours a day with mulberry leaves. The caterpillar delicately silks thread to create cocoons, and it can take 100’s of silkworms to make a kilo of silk. But while the insects require monitoring, they do most of the hard work themselves. But the key difference between bright yellow silk and paler lotus version is that every single strand of lotus silk must be extracted by hand.
With lotus thread, the threads are taken from the stem. Also, silk thread is thicker than lotus thread, silkworm uses their gland to draw silk thread from their intestine. While the lotus thread is soft and a bit stretchy.
Each thread of lotus silk starts with the stem of the lotus flower. Lotus was previously harvested for only seeds, flowers, and stems as edible items. But now the stem has other advantages too. The stem is selected by hand and then silk inside can be extracted.
Each stem contains a minuscule amount of thin fibers which must be rolled together and dried. The thread needs to be processed within 24 hours while they are still wet; otherwise, they will break. So harvesting has to be done each day. Once dried these threads are carefully weighed down and delicately hand-spooned before putting into a loom. But once woven they are as durable as traditional silk. The harvesting is possible between April and October. The process is time taking and a skillful worker can only make lotus thread from about 200–250 stems a day. It takes around 2 months to make a single scarf.
A 25 cm scarf is sold for over $200 so the hard work is worth it. The final product is soft like silk, breathable like linen, and slightly elastic. It has also been recently picked up by international fashion brands searching for new luxury fiber.
Bird nest harvesting- It is another special and unique farming practice. Currently, it is only popular in Asian countries.
Edible bird nests are nests created by birds(swiftlets) using solidified saliva. The nests are rich in proteins and are traditionally believed to provide health benefits. Previously the nests were harvested from caves, usually the enormous limestone caves at Gomantong and Niah in Borneo (Malaysia). But the task is really dangerous.
The nests are created by the swiftlets on the cliffs but recently there are large indoor houses and swiftlets are allowed to build their nests there. The cost equals to around $6,000 per kg. The composition of nests is purely saliva and it is used as a raw material for bird nest soup making.
Cordyceps harvesting
Cordyceps, also known as the Himalayan Gold (caterpillar fungus), is a parasitic fungus found on the Himalayan Tibetan plateau. The season lasts for about 2 months i.e, from May to June. Hence, summertime on the Tibetan plateau is caterpillar fungus season.
What exactly is caterpillar fungus?
500 g can sell up to $26,000, amazing right! Caterpillar fungus is one of the most prized ingredients in traditional medicines. It is also called magic mushroom for its apparently wide-ranging health benefits.
In winters there is a caterpillar that is alive and that is when the caterpillar is infected with a parasitic fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis). The fungus then takes control of the caterpillar’s brain and forces it to crawl up the surface of the soil. Then by summertime, around late April or May, the worm slowly dies and the parasite grows out of the caterpillar’s head and appears on the surface. The fungus burns out of the soil and sends out spores that then infect other caterpillars, continuing its life cycle.
So, basically, caterpillar fungus is really expensive, caterpillar parasite zombie. When people see it out of the ground, they pluck it and large-scale harvesting is done on the mountain top by locals. It is called ‘keeda Jadi’ in Uttrakhand. The fungus has been placed on the IUCN red list due to overharvesting as its spread has declined to 30% in the past 15 years. The fungus cannot be cultured in the laboratory and hence is a rare commodity.