Chamarajanagar, Nov 17 : Standing under the canopy of trees, Venkatesh Nagsetti (38) and his brother Prasad Nagsetti (35) are spinning ropes from the dried leaves of agave plants (agave sisalana).

They belong to the only family that makes sisal, a natural fibre obtained from agave, in Kuderu village of Karnataka’s Chamarajanagar district.

Their father Nagsetti (60), mother Sannamathamma (60), Venkatesh’s wife Rekha (28) and Prasad’s wife Ramya (25) help with the tasks. The family has been into this job for four generations. They belong to the Uppara caste, traditionally associated with digging earth, building tanks and making salt.

“We are in this business because we do not like migrating to cities. We are not educated, so we would not get high paying jobs in cities either,” Venkatesh tells 101Reporters.

Earlier, around 100 families of Kuderu, Tenkalmole and Badagalamole were involved in making sisal ropes. They stopped using the natural fibre 20 years ago, as the work was strenuous. They now make reusable plastic ropes from cement bags.

Agave plants grow on bunds across the fields and wastelands in the arid and semi-arid regions of Chamarajanagar, Hanumanthapura, Heggodu, Ummathur and Mysuru. It is drought-tolerant, but grows well when water is available. Once the fleshy leaves are harvested, it will take around six months for the next harvest.

The process

Hunting down agave leaves suitable for making ropes is an integral part of the work.

“We are used to the constant travels to nearby regions of Mysuru, Mandya and Bengaluru in search of material. Despite the changing climate, we have not had great difficulties so far in procuring leaves. When the underground adventitious shoots developing from the roots receive favourable conditions, they often come up above the soil surface at some distance from the parent plant and develop into small suckers. These new plants ensure our raw material,” says Venkatesh.

For the last 50 years, the family has been using a sugarcane crusher machine with a diesel engine to extract sisal fibre. Venkatesh has to remain standing in a bent position throughout the process. It is done by hand and there are chances of injuring one’s hand when the machine is running. More people are needed for the process, which includes feeding leaves into the crusher, putting cold water when the machine heats up and hanging the fibre to dry.

“Modern machines that run on electricity/solar energy could save the huge amounts that we spend on diesel. Newer technologies will raise productivity and income, but they cost a lot,” says Venkatesh.

Explaining the economics of making ropes, he says, "For procuring agave leaves, we have to give Rs 300 to 500 to land owners. We spend a total of Rs 5,000 to employ four labourers [Rs 500 each] to cut the leaves and load and unload them into a hired tractor and for transportation. The raw fibre is sold for Rs 80 per kg.”

To run the crusher, diesel worth Rs 500 and oil worth Rs 300 are needed daily. The family works 16 days a month (four days a week). They do all the work themselves as they cannot afford labour charges. They should ideally wear a full body suit as the juice is allergic, but they manage with hand gloves and full sleeve shirts. They are sure they can produce an additional 30 kg of the fibre against the present weekly output of 100 kg, provided they have the right machine.

Contrastingly, reusable plastic ropes are sold at Rs 30 per kg, as they have no processing cost. Each bag costs Rs 2 to 3, and the plastic rope-makers purchase 100 sacks of 25-kg cement bags to manufacture 90 ropes. When compared to natural fibre rope, the work is less strenuous and they earn between Rs 4,000 and 5,000 a week.