The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Turning a the lantana weed into something useful

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 12, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Turning a the lantana weed into something useful

Staff Reporter

Soliga and Korava tribes use it to make different products

Creating awareness: Participants at the Lantana Mela held recently.

Bangalore: Lantana, regarded as one of the world’s 10 most invasive weeds, is almost impossible to control, and has colonised continents from South America to Africa to Asia. It got its stranglehold over India when the British introduced it as an ornamental plant in 1807.

But who would have thought that this impossible weed might have some remarkably redeeming features? Well, the Soligas at M.M. Hills and B.R. Hills will tell you that lantana can be ingeniously converted into a range of products including toys, furniture and home décor items. You can take your pick from chairs, coffee tables, garden tables and chairs, bookshelves, magazine racks, baskets of all sizes and so on.

Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE) recently co-organised a Lantana Mela to showcase the works of the Soligas, create awareness about their craft, and provide a forum to share skills and experiences. The mela also highlighted some of the challenges that lantana artisans from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu face.

ATREE, a non-profit organisation that works towards conservation, also trains people belonging to the Soliga and Korava tribes, especially the women, in new techniques and marketing strategies for lantana products. These products can be used effectively in natural resource-based micro-enterprises believes ATREE, who have set up three kinds of self-reliance groups; for raw material collection, production and for marketing.

For details call 23530069.

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