The Hindu : New Delhi News : Pearl man reveals his secrets

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 18, 2007
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Pearl man reveals his secrets

P. Anima

BIOLOGICAL GEMS: Pearls developed by Ajai Kumar Sonkar

NEW DELHI: His pearls speak for themselves. According to experts from the United States, his 22 mm nuclei produce the largest pearls and perhaps the most expensive ones too.

Ajai Kumar Sonkar, an independent researcher and Chairman of the Pearl Aquaculture Research Foundation, has been delving deep into the marine wealth of the Andamans for over three years now in an endeavour to produce superior quality pearls. He has been experimenting on various species of these biological gems that fetch fat amounts in the international market. But to get those perfectly round, uniform and lustrous pearls is quite a task, says the pearl-maker.

"Every oyster will not produce a pearl," he explains. Pearl aquaculture is a long and tedious process. Beginning with choosing oysters from the sea and preparing the ones that are one or two-year-old for surgery, it is followed by the procedure itself. The operated oysters are then delicately put back into the sea for six months to two years for pearl formation. After the stipulated period, the oysters return to the laboratories for the pearls to come out.

Pearl aquaculture is still a nascent concept in India, says Dr. Sonkar. "It was difficult for me to get clearance to begin work in the Andaman waters," recounts Dr. Sonkar, who began his experiments with fresh water projects. After the green signal from authorities, he began work in 2003.

He believes that the Indian climate, especially the Andamans, is conducive for pearl culture. But the devastating tsunami played havoc with the project. "The tsunami disturbed the breeding grounds and caused variations in depth. But things are getting back on track," says Dr. Sonkar.

The researcher is currently working on two species of oysters -- Pinctada margaritifera and Pinctada maxima. What is considered to be Dr. Sonkar's greatest achievement is the breakthrough he achieved in developing the technique to produce the nuclei that are vital to pearl culture.

Pearls, he says, are distinguished on the basis of quality. A factor that is significant when it comes to quality is the aragonite composition. "Pearls are calcium carbonate that crystallises in two ways -- calcite crystallisation and aragonite crystallisation," he explains. "The aragonite crystallisation is the pearl component which is less in fresh water, that's why saline water pearls are of superior quality," he adds.

The environment in which culturing takes place has an impact on the pearl quality. "The oysters in Tahiti are huge and so are the pearls, while those produced here are smaller and it has to do with the climatic conditions," says Dr. Sonkar.

He believes that India has a great future when it comes to pearl culture. "We have a long coast and nature has been generous," he says. "Pearl culturing can fetch foreign exchange as well as create employment opportunities as the work is manual," Dr. Sonkar adds.

But the key, the researcher whose experiments have resulted in almost zero mortality of oysters says, is to "take your laboratory to nature and not to bring nature to the laboratory".

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