Carrots are harvested in Udhagamandalam during winter’s nights, when ground temperatures drop up to four degrees below zero. Men and women labourers gather at the municipal market around 1 a.m. to set off for the fields in small groups by trucks. Work starts at 1.30 a.m., so that the produce reaches the market fresh in the morning. Groups of labourers alternate between harvesting and sitting around a fire every 20 minutes or so. Men plough the fields, while the women separate the carrots and the leaves. The produce is loaded on the waiting trucks in gunny bags, each weighing 80 kg.
The next destination of the workers is cleaning units — there are more than 50 of them in Udhagamandalam and nearby villages. After cleaning, carrots are graded by quality and sent to Mettupalayam and Chennai in Tamil Nadu and various markets in Kerala and Karnataka. The long, thin produce gets the best prize in the auctions. Medium-sized carrots are second grade. Small-sized ones get the lowest price. Some big retailers are now into contract farming and own cleaning plants and cold chains.
After the work ends at 10 a.m., labourers are paid ₹500 to ₹750 each, but women get ₹100 less.
Carrot is a British bequest to Udhagamandalam from some 150 years ago. The Tamil Nadu Horticulture Department estimates that it is cultivated on about 2,800 hectares of land. On an average, the hill station produces 70,000 to 80,000 tonnes a year. Women make up half of the 5,000 harvesters. Most of the workers do not want their children to come into this line of work.
To market: Freshly harvested carrots arrive at the Mettupalayam market for auction.
Seize the night: Women labourers arrive for carrot harvest at Kollimalai village near Ooty on a freezing winter’s night.
Pick it: The women separate leaves and carrots.
Camp spirit: Taking a fire break.
Under the moon: Harvesting apace at Kodapamund in the hill station.
By the sack: The harvested carrots are put into gunny bags.
Carrot bath: The produce goes through a washing plant before being graded by size.
The daily grind: Most of the carrot fields are not connected by road, and the labourers have to cover some distance carrying bags to the waiting trucks.