Kutch Rann Utsav Salt Desert Cooperative Gujarat

The Rann of Kutch in the Kutch district of Gujarat is the world largest salt marsh, a vast white salt flat that transforms into a spectacular white desert during the dry winter months and hosts the Rann Utsav festival attracting tourists from across India and internationally. The Agaria salt farming community has harvested salt from the Rann for centuries, working the shallow seasonal salt pans through the summer months when the Rann dries. Agaria salt cooperative societies operate under the Kutch District Salt Producers Cooperative. The cooperative manages salt production allocation and sale to industrial salt buyers and the food salt market. Kutch is also famous for its extraordinary concentration of artisan crafts — Kutchi embroidery, Rogan painting, Ajrakh block print, and Bandhani tie-dye — all produced by specific sub-community artisan cooperatives. The Khamir craft cooperative in Bhuj is a reference institution for community craft documentation and revitalisation post the 2001 Bhuj earthquake that devastated Kutch.