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| Cultivation and Harvesting |
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HARIDA (Terminalia chebula)
Cultivation :
The tree is a strong light demander. It requires direct overhead light and cannot tolerate shade of cramped situation. The young plants, however appreciate a certain amount of shade and benefit by side protection from the hot sun. It is frost hardy and drought-resistant to a considerable extent. T. Chebula tree growing in isolation produces a fine crown and yield a good crop.
Soil type and climate :
It can be grown on wide range of soils from loam to lateritic soils with moderate fertility. The plant attains the best development on loose, well-drained soil. Average temperature ranging from 10-480C is suitable for its growth. In moist regions the tree grows well.
Propagation :
Natural regeneration :
The tree propagates by natural regeneration in some localities but it is affected adversely to a great extent when rats, squirrels and rodents destroy the seed. The seeds germinate better if it is covered up with the earth or debris than, if it is lying in the open. Germination takes up in the rainy season. For natural regeneration, good drainage is considered essential and shelter from the side is desirable. Growth is generally poor at the times of rains and the seedling is often killed by heavy and continuous rain. Manipulation of canopy by creating small gaps facilities regeneration, and this is supplemented by sowing seeds in gaps.
Artificial regeneration :
The tree can be successfully raised in the field by:
1.Direct sowing of seeds.
2.Transplanting the seedlings, and
3.Planting root and shoot cuttings.
Generally the germinating velocity of the seeds is low because of the hard seed cover, which requires pretreatment. Fermentation of the seeds gives best germination results. If only a few seeds become buried under earth and debris, the chance of germination becomes better but other shade bearing species under a dense canopy defy the chance of survival of the seedlings. Seeds are clipped without damaging the embryo and then are soaked in cold water for 36 hours and are then sown in the nursery beds under shade. Germination commences in 15 days and is completed in 3-4 weeks giving 80% germination.
Vegetative propagation :
Vegetative propagation has been found advantageous over seed propagation as the former technique reduces the juvenile period and subsequently facilitates early maturing. Experiments have been carried out to evolve and standardize the vegetative method of propagation mainly to overcome slow growth, phenotypic variation and late fruiting. Desirable traits are bigger fruit size with small stone.
Harvesting technique :
Collection time and procedure :
January to March is the best period for fruit collection. Fruit should be collected in the first half of January from the ground as soon as they have fallen. The best time for collection of the fruit for optimum tannin content is January. Collection prior to or after January will yield inferior quality of Harra. A good sample contains 32 % tannin, range of which usually varies from 12 to 49%
Harra freshly collected and dried immediately have yellowish colour and fetch a better price. The fruits when allowed to lie on the ground have darker colour with sometimes mould attack. Tannin content in such decaying fruits is also very low. Mould attack also sometimes occurs on the tree and this is mentioned as the major cause of poor quality of myrobalans.
Grading :
The different grades of myrobalans are at present known by the names of the areas from where they are exported. The grades are based on shape, colour, compactness of the nuts and freedom from insect attack. Following four grades are known: (1) Jabalpore coming from MP and partly from Orissa, (2) Bimilipatnam coming from Andhra pradesh and partly from Tamil nadu, (3) Rajpores or Bombay varity coming mostly from Kolhapur and other parts of Maharashtra, (4) Salem or Madras variety coming mostly from Tamil nadu
The fruits fall on the ground soon after ripening. The harvested seeds are dried in thin layers, preferably in shade and graded for marketing. In trade parlance, Harra is divided into three categories.
Bal/ Choti/ Jawa Harra - Harvesting period of this is usually January and is primarily used for Ayurvedic medicines. Price is around Rs. 40 per kg. The fruit of this category is collected before maturity as small Harra has more medicinal value. However harvesting at such an early stage is not considered sustainable. Forest dwellers are forced to do it as it fetches more prices. When Harra becomes mature, it looses medicinal value thereby fetching less money.
Badi Harra – It is used in Tanneries and not very useful for Ayurvedic medicines as it has lesser medicinal values. Average price is about Rs. 3 per kg. February is considered the best month for collection of this variety. Badi Harra is loosing its ground rapidly as it is believed that tannin production companies have developed a substitute.
Kacheria -It is the crushed pulp of Badi Harra as the astringent quality is found in the same. It can be used as substitute of bal Harra. The crushed Myrobalans are preferred as it reduces bulk and weight of the material while whole fruits are preferred to avoid adulterations. But transport difficulties forces exporters to send Myrobalans in crushed form. Price comes to about Rs.10 per kg. 60 kg of Kacheria comes out from 100 kgs of Badi Harra.
Collection and processing :
The collection of fruits is generally done by shaking the trees and picking up from the grounds. Then the fruits are dried in the sun with arrangements for avoiding contamination. It takes about 3 to 4 weeks for complete drying. For this purpose contractors generally erect temporary sheds to store myrobalans in the event of rain as rains destroy the valuable properties of fruits. The raw myrobalan is graded under different trade names, selection being based upon their solidness, colour and freedom from insect attack. Grading generally consists of separating inferior fruits, which constitute a second grade, the remainder being the first grade.
As previously reported, the dried myrobalans were graded at the premises of the wholesale merchants into different grades based on colour, solidity of the nuts and freedom from insect attack. And these were graded by appearance for the export market and for some tanneries within the country. In the trade, myrobalans were usually known by the place of origin.
Myrobalans of fair quality from any area were marketed without grading as FAQ (Fair avg. Quality), which consists of 75% solid and 25% of hollow and decayed nuts.
Value addition :
Myrobalan extracts (spray dried powder form) are manufactured by leaching with water at 70oC in an open vat made of wood or concrete with copper or brass fittings (iron not being used in order to avoid chemical reaction of the tannin solution). The extract is cooled to 15oC , as it causes separation loss of tannin. The manufacture of spray dried tannin powder, consists in principle in projection under pressure of finely dried spray of the liquid in a closed chamber where it is so arranged that water vapour that is given off is continually withdrawn. The evaporation is also helped by the introduction of hot air, the circulation of which can be so regulated as to control at will the moisture content of the dry powder formed. The hot air is completely dried before being pressed through the chamber. The dry powder extract so obtained falls to the bottom of the chamber on an inclined base so as to facilitate easy removal (Anon., 1960).
Yield :
No data seem to have been collected regarding the yield of myrobalans as nowhere collection is done in an organized manner and the distribution is scattered and so the yield per hectare could also not be ascertained.
Economics :
No data seem to have been collected regarding the economics as nowhere it is cultivated in an organized manner and the distribution is scattered so the cost per hectare could not be ascertained. |
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