KOCHI: Mathachan was working as a professor in the Telecommunications Department at the King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia when he got an opportunity to visit China as an Arabic to English translator. “ That is when I came across the Danshui Fisheries Research Center in Wuxi, China. They offered diploma courses in pearl cultivation. I quit my job and pursued farming mussels in 1999,” says 66-year-old Mathachan.
He has a 30m X 15m X 6ft tank that can hold 20 lakh litres of water, and seven other small ponds in his six acres. “There are 52 varieties of mussels. I grow Lamellidens marginalis,” he said. Mathachan sources freshwater mussels from Kaveri River. These are found in abundance in the Western Ghats as well.
His process
Acrylic nuclei made in his factory is implanted in the flesh between the outer coverings of a mussel. The mussels are then submerged in water inside a porous basket. For their healthy growth, Mathachan imports Australian plankton rich in protein. “Mostly, freshwater mussels feed on 0.5mg zooplanktons. I feed them 2mg planktons from Australia,” says Mathachan.
The pearls will mature in 18 months. The mussels will generate ‘nacre layers’ coating the nucleus. When 540 layers such layers are formed, the pearl gets its look. Harvesting is done manually. Shells are separated carefully to extract the pearl, before sending it to a gemologist for certification.
There are three types of pearls- artificial, cultured, and natural. “Pearls are cheap in India because most of them are artificial, with a synthetic coating. Cultured and natural pearls are the real ones. One gram of cultured pearl costs around Rs 3,500” he explains.
The hard work gets paid off when the pearls are exported to Australia, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, and Kuwait. “Freshwater pearls have more market all over the world,” he adds. When Mathachan started pearl cultivation in the ‘90s, not many people knew about its possibility. “I faced a lot of criticism in the beginning, but I had faith that this unique farming method would yield me better results,” he said. Mathachen also creates artwork using waste shells. Mathachan also trains people on how to cultivate mussels. Now, he takes classes online. Apart from pearl cultivation, Mathachan also farms vanilla, coconuts and mango.