Collection and processing

The naturally withered flower is collected in early morning in baskets and is taken to home. The collected item is dried from 3 days to 1 week. During the season, a collector can collect 3 kg per day.

The fruit of Ippa is collected and the pulp taken out. The hard coat of the fruit is broken with the stone on any heavy tool or it is rubbed rigorously to loosen the hard coat. During the season each day a collector can collect 5 to 8 kg. The fruit is kept for drying for 5 to 7 days in front of the houses. Mahua trees are abundant in the Srisailam area and hence there is less risk of going deep into the forest. Best season for the flower is April to August and for the seed it is from March to May.

Production and pricing

Following figures show the procurement and sales quantity as well as price of Mahua flower and seed by GCC. The procurement has followed a cyclical pattern with peaks and troughs every alternate year. Procurement of seed has remained within a range and stable as compared to that of flower that was showing a increasing trend in the late 80s and early 90s, but has again declined over the years. One more thing worth noticing is that the flower and seed have shown similar trends in all these years except for 2 years (89-90 and 2001-02). Of 14 years of data that is available, GCC has procured more seed then flower for 8 years. It is also clear from that average procurement and sales value of seed is more then double that of flower. These raises more questions then answers, as flower is definitely more important then the seeds in terms of importance as well as commercial value. In the neighbouring states, people face difficulty in selling Mahua seeds, where as flower can be sold very easily.

The trend of prices also shows some interesting findings. Procurement and sales prices of seed has remained higher then that of flowers always. This is unlike the neighbouring state of Orissa where seed price has remained lower or at the same levels as that of flower. But if one looks at the trend of the individual produces, it is the flower whose procurement price has risen more (nearly 220% increase in 14 years) then the seed (38% increase in 13 years). Similarly while sales price of seed has remained unchanged in all these years, the sales price of the flower has risen by almost 400%.

Figure : Procurement and Sales Quantity of Mahua (in MT)

Figure : Procurement and Sales Price of Mahua (Rs. / Kg)