New Money from a Spiky Plant
Farmers in India once used the agave plant as a fence. Now, they sell it to make drinks. Traders look for the wild cactus on the Deccan Plateau. Workers must harvest the plant before it flowers. They take the heart to a factory quickly. This new business gives farmers extra money and creates a growing market.
Masapalli Venkatesh is a farmer in Kandukur, India. His farm is on the Deccan Plateau. He grows tomatoes and peanuts. For many years, he also had a desert plant. It is the agave plant. In the past, farmers used this plant as a fence. It kept wild animals away from the corn. People thought it was a valueless weed. But in 2010, traders visited the farm. They wanted the cactus.
Agave plants are part of a big global market. In Mexico, farmers grow blue agave for tequila. India does not have big plantations yet. Instead, farmers collect wild agave. This plant is now "blue gold" because it gives extra income. Venkatesh works with many villagers. He looks for plants across 100 kilometres. He sends many plants to distilleries.
Harvesting the agave is a skilled job. The most important part is the heart. It is called the piña. It looks like a big pineapple. Workers chop off the spiky leaves to find it. The timing must be perfect. If the plant blooms, it uses all its sugar. Then the piña is useless for making alcohol. Gatherers find the peak sugar window.
After the harvest, the clock starts. The piñas must go to a factory within 24 hours. There, they extract the sugars. If the transport is slow, the sugars rot. This destroys the flavour of the spirit. Suppliers live in many different states. They are far apart.
The demand for agave spirits in India is growing by 31 percent. New brands are starting to experiment. They use wild agave from the plateau. People are open to new drinks. It is still early, but the industry is becoming credible.
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What did people think about the agave plant in the past?
Past Simple (Regular and Irregular)
We use the past simple to talk about completed actions in the past.
“Masapalli Venkatesh is a farmer in Kandukur, India.”
What to know · A2
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Scenario: Talking about a change in your work or situation.
- 01“In the past, I used to...”
- 02“Now, I am starting to...”
- 03“It is a welcome source of...”
Register tip · informal
🔑Key Phrases
Used to describe something that people thought had no worth.
I thought this old chair was a valueless weed, but it is actually very expensive.
Shows the scale of the search for wild plants.
The search party looked for the lost dog across 100 kilometres.
Highlights the urgency of the processing task.
The cake must be eaten within 24 hours.
🎙️ Article Audio — Kokoro TTS
New Money from a Spiky Plant
Adapted from BBC Technology · Read the original. LinguaPress rewrites the facts as original graded-reader text for language learners.
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