Madhepura Makhana Cultivation Kosi Chaur Wetland

Madhepura district in the Kosi floodplain is one of Bihar's major makhana (fox nut, Euryale ferox) producing districts, where the Kosi river's abandoned channels and chaur oxbow wetlands provide shallow water bodies where tribal and Mallah communities cultivate makhana plants by wading waist-deep to harvest the spiny seed pods in September. Madhepura makhana is processed in village households where women shell and puff the seeds over open fire, creating the crispy white fox nuts that Bihar exports to Delhi, Mumbai, and international health food markets as a superfood. The district's makhana cooperative cluster connects smallholder chaur cultivators to processing centres that standardise quality for export markets demanding food safety certification.