(From left) Nalanda University (NU) vice-chancellor Gopa Sabharwal, chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, Kathinka Sinha-Kerkhoff and Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI) member-secretary Shaibal Gupta release a book, Colonising Plants in Bihar (1760-1950): Tobacco Betwixt Indigo and Sugarcane, at ADRI in Patna on Saturday.Sinha-Kerkhoff, a renowned scholar in social anthropology and history and associated with ADRI, has authored the book. In his address, Manjhi said: 'Since consumption of tobacco is not desirable, cultivation of tobacco is no longer promoted. But since cash crops form an important component of farmers' income, crops like indigo, tobacco and sugarcane influence the nature of agrarian economy.'Presiding over the function, NU vice-chancellor Sabharwal said by taking tobacco, indigo and sugarcane as case studies, the author demonstrates the dynamism of cash-crop production systems and how these influenced each other. In a historical process described by the scholar, indigo came to be seen as an alien plant linked to exploitation, whereas tobacco, with its origin in South America, became linked to Bihari identity in the form of chewing tobacco. ADRI member-secretary Gupta welcomed the guests, while its director PP Ghosh gave the vote of thanks on the occasion. Text by Anand Raj, picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh