Citronella Grass

The forest department had planted Citronella grass in the forests of North WB lured by its commercial prospects. The citronella grass when processed into oil is useful for medicinal purposes. The forest department has a processing unit for turning grass into oil. So it is the oil that is sold by the department through its sister concern, West Bengal Forest Development Corporation (WBFDC). The grass is procured in the month of October to December. However as can be seen below, the procurement of grass is currently on a decline due to lack of new plantation.

Figure : Outturn of Citronnella Grass in Forest Areas of WB(Quintals)

Sabai (Eulaliopsis Binata) Grass

Sabai grass is found in parts of the state in the southwest. This grass that used to be one of the important ingredients for papermaking has now found use for the purpose of matting and decoration. It is also popularly known as baib or bhabar grass.

Tassar

The forests of South West BENGAL provide the right environment for rearing of Tassar cocoons. This is done in the region with Arjun (Terminalia Arjuna), Asan (Terminalia Tomentosa), and Sal as host trees, both in plantations and natural forests. Apart from monetary benefits of Tassar Culture, pruning in form of twigs and branches of host trees provide the much needed fuel wood that can meet the concerned requirement for major part of the year. This also reduces pressure on the natural or plantation forests.

This is grown thrice in a year and provides supplementary incomes for the forest dependent communities. Some NGOs have encouraged this activity in the SHGs promoted by them. SHGs formed by Centre for Women Development Studies, an NGO, are engaged in this business in Jhilimili area of Ranibandh block. This culture is practised with Arjun and Sal trees as host trees. SHGs in Kamalpur and Jhilimili area of Bankur district are looking after the trees and sell tasar cocoons after it is mature. The price realised are given below -

* 1 kahan = 16 pan, 1 pan = 80 numbers of cocoons

The Central Tassar Research and Training Institute based at Patelnagar, Birbhum and the WB government Directorate of Sericulture supplement these activities through organising and sponsoring training programmes.

Kewda

Kewda, a popular perfume in the country is obtained from the flowers of Pandanus tectorius, a small evergreen shrub. The leaves are also useful for thatching and making baskets and mats etc. It is found in MP, Orissa, Rajasthan, WB, UP and some southern states. Burhanpur in WB is one of the main production centres of the oil along with Kanauj in UP and Chhatrapur in Orissa.

Mahua flower

The Excise department regulates the trade of Mahua flower in the state. This might be a reason why registered traders are not willing to buy the produce. However, the trade is done in an illegal way that implies that the primary collectors get a low price. The collection of Mahua flower generally starts from April 1st week to May 1st week. When first crop comes the price remains high and the price decreases as the production increases. The trading of mahua flower from village to district level is mentioned below.

Figure : Trade Channel of Mahua Flower

The tribals procure Mahua seed for their own consumption. The price of the seed varies from place to place. This year, while the price hovered around Rs 6 in Jhargram of Midnapore, in Purulia it is Rs 4 - 5, and in Bankura still lesser.

Vella, Pial and Mushrooms

Villagers collect both vella flower and fruits. The crop season is January and February. The price of vella seed is Rs 4-5 /- per kg and that of vella fruits is Rs 25/- per kg. The small traders popularly called paikars come to the village and collect these.

Pial seed are mature in the month of May and June. The price of Pial seed is Rs 20 - 25/- per kg. The villagers sell these to the paikars or in the local haats.

Mushroom are generally available in rainy season in number of varieties. Depending on the quality the price varies from Rs 2 to Rs 25/- per kg. These are generally sold in nearby markets.

Decorative Flowers and Grass

The north West Bengal is famous for availability of decorative flowers and Grass. Though the details are mentioned in the field study, it would suffice here to say that most of the decorative products are exported from Kolkota and the turnover is in hundreds of crores. There is a private forum of the exporters in the state capital.