In Pictures
The salt farmers of India’s Rann of Kutch marshes
The Agariya people brave harsh conditions producing most of India’s salt, but live in poverty and illness as a result.
![Work in the fields start in early October, when salt farmers begin the embankment process in the salt flats, still submerged with monsoon water. [Ajay Dhamecha/Al Jazeera]](/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/a1584fe135de4c61ac5dac4e53d980e5_8.jpeg?resize=1170%2C780&quality=80)
Rann of Kutch, Gujarat – Rann of Kutch is a seasonal salt marsh located in the Thar desert just 10km from the Arabian Sea in India’s Gujarat district. This is the land of the Agariya people, who have lived here for centuries, knowing only one means of livelihood – salt production.
From October to June, they work day in and day out under a fierce sun, harvesting up to 76 percent of the salt produced in India.
In the monsoon months, Rann of Kutch is submerged in sea water. As the water recedes from October, the Agariyas move in to set up square fields to grow the salt. They dig wells to pump out the briny groundwater and fill the fields where the natural evaporation process leaves behind white crystals.
In winter, the harvest season begins in the salt fields, which are now silvery white with raw salt. Braving a relentless 40 degrees during day time, which often dips to 4 degrees in the desert night, the Agariyas live for six to seven months in the shacks beside their salt flats.
They pay a high price for working in such harsh conditions. According to a study conducted by the National Institute of Occupational Health in Ahmedabad, the farmers suffer from skin lesions, severe eye problems owing to intense reflections off the white surfaces, and tuberculosis. A salt worker of Kutch seldom lives beyond 60 years.

![Farmers prefer to start the day in the pleasant early morning to avoid the scorching desert heat which soars up to 40C even in December. [Sugato Mukherjee/Al Jazeera]](/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/da85b7673f074fc4b74e362d5242c771_8.jpeg?fit=1170%2C780&quality=80)




![Davalram, 64, leveling the salt pan his family has worked on for generations. Most of his friends who started salt farming with him half a century ago, have died. [Sugato Mukherjee/Al Jazeera]](/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/745e3a86af094c2a83831d71ed9d03b9_8.jpeg?fit=1170%2C760&quality=80)


![An Agariya woman sorting the grains beside her hut. During the peak harvesting season, the Agariyas set themselves up in makeshift shacks near the salt fields. [Sugato Mukherjee/Al Jazeera]](/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/4811f4d4e6434b268e21983e96cbaca3_8.jpeg?fit=1170%2C764&quality=80)

![A group of workers at a salt centre from where raw salt is transported to the local salt factories. [Ajay Dhamecha/Al Jazeera]](/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/b64788bf77154d6f9497a8da4855041b_8.jpeg?fit=1170%2C771&quality=80)
![Agariya women and children work in local salt factories. The pay for packing 1,000 packets of salt is as low as 80 Indian rupees ($1.30). [Sugato Mukherjee/Al Jazeera]](/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/b3a50baf855b46feb7f93c8ce2a53215_8.jpeg?fit=1170%2C780&quality=80)
![Another day begins in the salt plains of Kutch, which produces 76 percent of India’s total salt production. [Sugato Mukherjee/Al Jazeera]](/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/b3a5a90cc43047779468a431b9fd33ce_8.jpeg?fit=1170%2C757&quality=80)