How India is building a pearl farming industry

 

In 2016, Narendra Garwa was facing a depressing financial situation. His small book shop in Renwal village of Rajasthan was running in loss.

With the support of a family and little education, he searched the Internet for other money-making ideas. They had some success growing vegetables in plastic bottles, but then they saw a potentially more profitable crop – pearls.

"Rajasthan is a dry region with water problems. It was a challenge to think of growing pearls in limited water, but I decided to give it a try.

Pearls are formed when a mollusk reacts to an irritant in its protective membrane. The mollusk deposits layers of aragonite and conchiolin, which together form the nacre, also known as mother-of-pearl.

In the wild, pearl formation is rare, so most pearls sold these days are from farmed mollusks, usually oysters or freshwater mussels.

To induce the mollusk to produce pearls, an irritant is artificially introduced into the organism. However, this is a delicate process and mussels or oysters must be handled with care, as Mr. Garva found.

My first attempt was a disaster," he admits. Of the 500 mussels he bought, only 35 survived.

Mr. Garva had traveled to Kerala to buy mussels - a journey of 1,700 miles involved in a 36-hour train journey. He also used his savings and borrowed money to come up with the 16,000 rupees (£170; $200) needed to buy the mollusk.

In addition, Mr. Garva had dug 10 feet by 10 feet pounds in his back garden to keep the creatures inside.

Despite the setbacks, he did not give up. Instead, he took a five-day course in pearl farming.

"Growing oysters is like raising a baby," he says.

"It is important to monitor water during the growth period to achieve high quality and quantity of produce."

Now they have a 40 ft by 50 ft pond, which they treat with multivitamins and alum which maintains the correct pH level required for growth.

Since becoming more familiar with the procedure the survival rate of their Muslims has increased from 30% to over 70%. Mr Garwa expects to produce around 3,000 beads this year, which he can sell for between 400 and 900 rupees (£4-£10; $5-$11).

The Indian government is encouraging pearl fishing as part of its Blue Revolution, a plan to modernize the country's fishing industry.

Under this scheme, the government pays half the cost of setting up a pearl fishing pond, and so far the fisheries department has given financial assistance to 232 pearl farming ponds.

“Pearl farming is one of the most lucrative aquaculture businesses and the government is encouraging farmers to take up this farming,” says Jujjwarapu Balaji, Joint Secretary, Marine Fisheries.

Not everyone is affected by this wave of pearl farming. Critics include Gunjan Shah, the fifth generation of her family in the pearl trading business.

The owner of Mumbai-based Babla Enterprises says, "The culture of pearl farming has grown in India, but I feel that the pearls grown in every nook and corner are not of very good quality."

He says that India is producing too many wrong kinds of pearls.

“At present India needs people who can grow sea water pearls to compete with China. Indian oysters are small but China has hybrid oysters that produce large pearls.

“Cultured South Sea pearls are the most valuable type of cultured pearls on the market today. These pearls come in a gorgeous variety of shapes, sizes and colors. A strand of South Sea pearls can be as expensive as $10,000 (£8,500) or more. They are rarely produced in India."

He says that the government should develop this part of the industry.

In its defence, the government says that building a competitive pearl farming sector will take time.

“Pearl is family specific farming, so the sector will take time to develop. The plan is to see growth in the next three years,” says Mr. Balaji of the Department of Fisheries.

“Once we are able to grow enough pearls for local consumption we can focus on exports,” he says.

Along with Mr. Garva for pearl farming, he also offers courses for those who want to learn how to do it.

Reena Choudhary, 28, was one of his students, and like her teacher, her first attempt last year was unsuccessful.

"I lost all the oysters—none of them were able to produce," she says.

But this year he expects to produce around 1,000 pearls.

Starting an independent business was a big leap for her, especially as women in her field are often expected to take care of the household rather than work.

"To people like us it smells like freedom," she says. "We've learned how to be independent, help contribute to the family, and have our say in family matters."