Optimize IAS
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Courses
    • Prelims Test Series
      • LAQSHYA 2026 Prelims Mentorship
    • Mains Mentorship
      • Arjuna 2026 Mains Mentorship
  • Portal Login
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Courses
    • Prelims Test Series
      • LAQSHYA 2026 Prelims Mentorship
    • Mains Mentorship
      • Arjuna 2026 Mains Mentorship
  • Portal Login

Bihar’s makhana and the wetlands they grow in

  • July 13, 2023
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
No Comments

 

 

Bihar’s makhana and the wetlands they grow in

Subject: Geography

Section: Economic geography

Makhana:

  • Makhana is the seed of a water lily species, Euryale ferox, found in south and east Asia.
  • Mithila Makhana or Makhan is a special variety of aquatic fox nut cultivated in the Mithila region of Bihar and Nepal.
  • When harvested, it is actually a tough blackish seed. It undergoes long and laborious stages of drying, heating, grading and roasting before it is popped to take on the white form as we know it.
  • Mithila Makhana is a GI-tagged product.

Micro-nutrients:

  • Fox Nuts are rich in protein and fibre and have various micronutrients such as magnesium, calcium, phosphorus and iron.

Production of Makahana:

  • For the region of Darbhanga in Bihar, both makhana and the wetlands they grow in, are very significant. Over 85% of India’s makhana comes from Bihar and almost a quarter of it is produced in Darbhanga’s wetlands.
  • Almost 850 ponds in the district are currently used for makhana cultivation as per government documents. These wetlands, therefore, are important for the state’s makhana cultivation and the livelihoods they support.

Significance:

  • The Maithili Brahmin community extensively uses and distributes Makhana during the Kojagara Puja festival.

Threats to the production of Makhana:

  • The water bodies are losing to pollution, illegal construction and encroachments.
  • A 2001 study found traces of toxic metals like lead, chromium, copper and cadmium in ponds and in the makhana that grew in them.
Bihar’s makhana and the wetlands they grow in Geography

Recent Posts

  • Daily Prelims Notes 23 March 2025 March 23, 2025
  • Challenges in Uploading Voting Data March 23, 2025
  • Fertilizers Committee Warns Against Under-Funding of Nutrient Subsidy Schemes March 23, 2025
  • Tavasya: The Fourth Krivak-Class Stealth Frigate Launched March 23, 2025
  • Indo-French Naval Exercise Varuna 2024 March 23, 2025
  • No Mismatch Between Circulating Influenza Strains and Vaccine Strains March 23, 2025
  • South Cascade Glacier March 22, 2025
  • Made-in-India Web Browser March 22, 2025
  • Charting a route for IORA under India’s chairship March 22, 2025
  • Mar-a-Lago Accord and dollar devaluation March 22, 2025

About

If IAS is your destination, begin your journey with Optimize IAS.

Hi There, I am Santosh I have the unique distinction of clearing all 6 UPSC CSE Prelims with huge margins.

I mastered the art of clearing UPSC CSE Prelims and in the process devised an unbeatable strategy to ace Prelims which many students struggle to do.

Contact us

moc.saiezimitpo@tcatnoc

For More Details

Work with Us

Connect With Me

Course Portal
Search