Phenology, silviculture & utilisation
Litsea Glutinosa is an evergreen shrub or
tree upto 25 meters in height and 1.5 meters in girth, with
about 6.0 meters long and clean bole. The bark of the tree
is brownish grey, somewhat corky and viscid inside. Leaves
are very variable in size and shape. The fruits of the tree
are globose, black or purple. The seeds of the tree yield
35-48% fat with strong aromatic odour and disagreeable taste.
The fat is being used in China and Java for making candles
and white soap; refined and deodorized fat may be used for
edible purposes. The fat is rich in lauric acid and may be
used in lauryl compounds used as detergents.
The plant from which Naramamidi bark is extracted
can be cultivated and propagated through seeds and by coppice
shoots. The tree stands a fair amount of shade and grows fast.
The coppice shoots grow up in a period of 4-5 years time when
the tree becomes ready for the extraction of bark. The recorded
annual girth increment of the tree varies from 2.2 - 2.6 cms.
The bark from the tree should be extracted when the tree has
attained a girth of 1.5 mts, to obtain an optimum yield of
bark from the tree. In order to obtain a sustained and continuous
yield of bark from the tree, the bark should be extracted
only upto the level of cambium otherwise the tree will die-off.
The major use of Narmamidi bark or "Madia
lakri" lies in the manufacture of Agarbattis (incense
sticks).
Narmamadi bark has the property of forming
into an adhesive when water is added to the powder of the
bark. It forms into a paste, which is an excellent gumming
material. Narmamidi barks powder acts as a binder for charcoal
and spentwood in the manufacturing process of agarbattis.
The major reason for the bark acting as an adhesive is due
to the presence of mucilage in the bark. The bark also swells
considerably in water. Apart from being used in the manufacture
of Agarbattis, Narmamidi bark is used in the manufacture of
mosquito coils and medicines. The bark contains essential
oil(0.05%) which possesses antimicrobial activity and is used
in diarrhoea and dysentery. Ground and pasted bark is used
for sprains, bruises and sheumatic and geutry joints. The
leaves of the tree are mainly used as fodder.Collection and
Processing
Collection and processing
In Andhra Pradesh the tribals between the
months of April and June collect the bark. The villagers do
not collect bark during the rains. The tribals in AP use simple
long blade brines and axes to extract bark from the trees.
The collectors hit the bark first with axes and after the
bark becomes loose they peel it off the trees with help of
knives. Tribal collectors travel to the forest in the morning
to collect the bark. After collection, they dry it for some
time and then sell it in the market.
Naramamidi bark can be stored upto a maximum
period of 4 - 6 months depending on conditions of storage.
The barks stored more than 6 months starts deteriorating however
good or scientific the storage conditions may be. After 6
months the stored bark starts losing its adhesive quality,
one of the major characteristics of Naramamidi bark that has
made it so important for agarbati and mosquito coil manufacturers.
The Naramamidi bark powder, which is known as "Jigat"
in the trade can be stored upto a maximum period of 25-30
days. This is because as soon as the bark is converted into
powder, it starts loosing its adhesiveness very fast and after
a period of one month it looses adhesiveness completely.
Production and pricing
The procurement of Naramamidi bark shows
no particular trend. The produce was banned for collection
for some years in between. GCC had to do a lot of convincing
to get into the specified list as its demand in the market
is high. This can be easily seen from the price graph, where
procurement and sales price of the produce has shown a remarkable
increase in a 10-year period.
Figure
: Procurement and Sales Quantity of Narmamidi Bark (in MT)
Figure
: Procurement and Sales Price of Narmamidi Bark (in MT)
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