Local Name        : Mahua
Botanical Name : Madhuca indica

This decidious evergreen or semi-evergreen tree attains a height of upto 70 feet and matures in 8 to 15 years. The dried Mahua flowers ire consumed by local villagers as alternative food for many days in a year and these also are the source of most popular country liquor. The state govt. has allowed concession to the local villagers to collect mahua flowers and fruits free where as the mahua seed is nationalized product.

Phenology
• Leaf Shedding: Dec-Jan
• Leafing: April-May
• Flowering: Feb-April
• Fruiting: June-July
• Fruit Ripenning: June-July

Distribution
The tree is found everywhere in the state of Jharkhandand. It is found mostly in moist peninsular valley sal & moist and northern dry mixed decidious forest.

Silviculture
For economic plantation, the spacing between two trees should be 1.2 m. X 1.2 m. while for block plantation it is 2m. X 2 m.
The species associated with Mahua tree are:
Moist peninsular valley sal sub type: Terminallia tomentosa, terminallia bellerica, Terminallia arjuna, adina cordifolia, Diospyros melanoxylon, Pterocarpus marsupium.
Northern dry mixed deciduos forest : Anogissus latifolia, Buchnannia latifolia, Sterculia urens, terminallia bellerica, Adina cordifolia, Emblica offeicinalis, Dendrocalmus strictus.

Utilisation
Almost all parts of this tree are used in one way or the other.
Mahua Flower
The flowers occur in clusters at the end of the branches and are aromatic, fleshy and sweet petals (corolas).These flowers are rich in sugar, vitamins and calcium. Used mainly for distillation of liquor but sometimes also used as an edible. The flowers before and after distillation is a good animal feed. One tree on an average yields upto 1 – 1.5 quintals of dried flower per season.
Mahua Fruit
The fruit of this tree is fleshy green berry, which becomes yellowish or orange brown when ripe. It contains 1 – 4 seeds which are used for oil extraction.
Mahua seed
Mahua seed is used for the extraction of oil, which is used in adulterates ghee, lighting, & the manufacture of soap & candle. One seed contains two kernels. Fruits fallen or felled by shaking of branches are hand picked. Collection has to be completed within two to three weeks.The rind is removed by hand and soaked in water for 5-6 hours. The soaked seed is then decorticated by beating it with stones. One tree yields 20 – 40 kg. kernel.
Root and bark
These are used for traditional medicinal purposes. The bark is a remedy for rheumatic affections and cures itch

Production Pattern
On studying the production behaviour of Mahua flower it was observed that the crop is good every alternate year

Collection Process
Collection Period: February– April
Earlier two processes were followed for the collection of flower. The first process, was the one, which is followed mainly till today also and that was the daily picking of the fallen flowers. But the shortcomings of this process are that one has to wait for a long time to let the flowers fall. Whereas its benefit in the present scenario vis – vis theft is that one need not spent time and energy in guarding the fallen flowers but instead collect and bring them home. The second process, which was more prevalent earlier, is the one in which the flowers were allowed to fall throughout the season and let there to dry. During this time they were guarded from animals.
Past System of Collection was such that in most of the vilages the mukhiyas and other influential people employ poor persons on wages or share basis to collect Mahua flowers from the forests. Although the practise adopted was against the spirit of govt. orders, but nevertheless it was being practised throughout the state. But with the entry of anti social elements, who were against the exploitation of the primary collector, into the system changed it all.

Processing
The processing at primary collector level includes drying of the flowers under the sun for three to four days. During this periods the flowers are rotated two to three times daily so that each part of the flower gets dried properly. The dried flower is packed in boras and sold in the local mandi. Some collectors who have collected enough flowers, store the collected product by laying neem leaves on the ground of a big room. The dried Mahua flower is then laid on these leaves and covered again by a layer of neem leaves. On top of this layer a layer of PUAL is laid and on top of this a layer of clay is applied. This is done to protect the flower from moisture.

Liquor Processing
The flowers are kept inside a big pot containing water. The ratio of Mahua flower to water is approximately 1:3. The pot is kept for 8 days during winters and for 3 days in summer to let the flower rot. During this period the mixture is routinely stirred. After the flowers have properly rotten then they are put inside a haandi along with water and put on fire. On top of the haandi a earthen container is put which has a hole at its bottom to let the vapour pass. Inside the earthen container is kept a small earthen pot, known as ‘Chuka’, on three small stones placed in the form of a triangle. On top of the earthen container is kept an alluminium container containing water. The water in the alluminium container is changed frequently.

In order that all the vapour gets converted to liquor and none gets lost in the atmosphere, both, the alluminium and earthen container are placed on top of a wet cloth which is then completely sealed by applying a layer of clay. The vapours of rotten flower and water rise inside the earthen container but get condensed due to the presence of cool water on top. This condensed liquid gets collected inside the small earthen pot kept inside the earthen container. The whole process of liquor making takes around 3 hours and out of 5 kg. of Mahua flower 5 beer sized bottles measuring 750ml. each of pure liquor can be obtained.

The processing done at the trader level includes grading of the flowers according to the following criteria:
• Colour :
       • Yellow : Good
       • Red : Mediocre
       • Black : Poor
• Moisture content : Less the moisture content the better the quality.
• Size
The flowers are not stored for long periods by the traders instead they are packed in Bora’s of similar grades. Some traders do store the flowers for longer duration due to their proximity to the cold storage.

Trading Centres
Garhwa, Daltonganj, Chandwa, Latehar, Chatra, Hajaribag, Gumla, Dhanbad, Chaibasha, Ranchi Giridih, etc.

Traders

      • Manoj Prasad
          Arahat Road, Daltonganj.
      • Janki Prasad Agarwal
          Jain Mandir Road, Daltonganj.
      • Sahu traders
          Mahesh soni Chowk, Hazaribagh.
      • Sunita Trading
          Gola Chowk, Hazaribagh.
      • Sambu Saw
          Near old petrol pump, Chatra.

Buyer List

1) Vashisht Chaudhary
      North Lane
      Upper Bazar
      Ranchi
2) Satya Babu
      North lane
      Upper bazar
      Ranchi
3) Namichand Mohan lal
      West Market Road
      Uppeer bazar
      Ranchi
4) R.B. Trader
      North Market Road
      Upper Bazar
      Ranchi
5) Janki Prasad Agarwal
      Jain Mandir Road
      Daltonganj.
6) Sahu Traders
      Mahesh soni Chowk, Hazaribagh.
7) Sunita Trading
      Gola Chowk, Hazaribagh.
      Sambu Saw
      Old Petrol pump
      Chatra.

Price Trend
At the beginning of the season the price fetched is high which decreases with the passage of the season. During the middle of each season the price is the lowest because of maximum supply but this price again rises to its peak with the season coming to its end. After the completion of the production season the price fetched by the mahua flower is the highest.

The price trend shows that almost every alternate year the price is high which in turn indicates a decrease in the production / supply of the Mahua flower.