NATURE'S BOUNTY: A tribal woman inoculating the branch of a lac tree in Adilabad.

UTNOOR (ADILABAD DT.): The 21 lakh lac (Butea Monosperma) trees found in Adilabad district yields income in lakhs for self-help groups (SHGs) once this resinous substance gets exported. The Shellac and Forest Products Export Promotion Council (SHEFEXIL) of the Union Ministry of Commerce has shown keen interest in organising export of the non-timber forest produce (NTFP) from 30 mandals in Adilabad district where the trees are found in abundance.

A team of officials of SHEFEXIL last week visited Pittabongaram in Indervelli mandal and Gundala in Narnoor which are major lac producing villages under the Utnoor Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) to assess its export potential. "According to their assessment there is potential for export of lac worth Rs. 20 crores per season from Adilabad district," revealed the ITDA Project Officer Saurabh Gaur.

Training

As a first step towards creating export potential, the SHEFEXIL is sending two master trainers to train about one woman SHG member from the 30 mandals each. They would be called village botanists and would in turn train other SHG members in techniques of inoculation of the lac or palash tree.

"We are trying to cultivate brood lac in five farms of 5 acres each as we need about 2 lakh quintals of it to inoculate the palash trees. Because we do not have such a large quantity of brood lac we are going in for inoculating only 50,000 to 60,000 trees," Mr. Saurabh Gaur said.

The SHEFEXIL would provide not only the required expertise in production of lac, but also marketing support.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail