PRINCE KUMAR
Ranchi, Oct 21: Lac production which had disappeared from the forests of Palamu mainly due to varying climatic conditions are being revived again through the solutions developed under the Non-Timber Forest Produce of Johar project.
Under the Johar project, forest dwellers are given training on how to increase their income through scientific lac cultivation.
Talking to the villagers on the reasons for degrading lac production, they said that the changing climatic condition is a major factor that creates hindrance in the production.
“I planted it several times but it got burnt, fog and dew took away lac from the village,” a villager said.
Jasmita Devi of the district had acquired the training for reviving the lost lac production and also taught many others in the adjacent villages.
“I organized different meetings and stated to them the benefit of producing lac. I trained them and now most of the households in the village are approximately producing 60-65 kg of lac every year,” Jasmita said.
“Most of our trees remained unused earlier but now we all are earning from lac production and we are very happy now,” Jasmita further added.
The trainers of JSLPS had trained the villagers about scientific lac cultivation. Cultivation begins when a farmer gets a stick that contains eggs ready to hatch and ties it to the tree to be infested. Thousands of lac insects colonize the branches of the host trees and secrete the resinous pigment. The coated branches of the host trees are cut and harvested as stick lac.
With this training, villagers are also getting an opportunity to learn the cultivation of Moringa and lemongrass which easily grow in the watershed areas with less care.
“Most of the land used to remain barren throughout the year due to less rainfall in the area but now I have started doing lemongrass cultivation which has helped me in starting my own grocery shop in the village,” a villager Basmati Devi said.
