Garlic Village

in picture: A family sow garlic in their farm, as the woman on the left takes a break to feed her baby on her lap.

Every season, agri-companies from Tamilnadu supply seeds, fertilizers and money for credit to the farmers of the remote high-range village of Vattavada, 2hrs east of Munnar. Once the crop is ready, the company hands patrol the area buying up all the produce they had financed, just for a pittance. These remote villagers, completely unaware of the rules of the game, lament that they had had to sell carrot just for 1 Rupee/Kg the last season.

Once the garlic is harvested, they smoke it in their Kitchen for months till the market is up or when they use up all their reserves.

Garlic Village