John Samuel Raja D. noted that the surge in America’s production of fracked gas bought great riches to farmers 21,000 km away:

• Guar gum is a key ingredient used in the process of fracking due to its binding, thickening and emulsifying qualities.
• It comes from a crop call guar. India is the world’s largest producer of it.
• As the shale gas boom progressed India’s exports of guar-gum shot up from $20.2 million to $3.5 billion in less than 10 years.
• The price of guar increased tenfold to $500 per 100kg.
• Farmers took the bounty to pay off their debts, build homes, and arrange lavish weddings.
• Since then frackers have found synthetic alternatives and prices have dropped to around $100 per 100kg.

Read about why the prices dropped, the future outlook for the farmers, and more over here.

Source: Quartz