Sal seed had been
another major collection item which has reduced in
output due to short collection period, lack of
willpower and lack of proper marketing etc. It can
provide nearly Rs. 40 to 50 cores to the villagers
in terms of purchase price of the seeds. Oil
butter of Sal seed in an alternative of
cocoa butter hence it is used in Chocolate
manufacture. The Sal Seed cakes are good cattle
feed.
Tamarind Production is
about 2 lakh MT. at a minimum price of Rs. 6 per.
Kilo it will give 120 cores to the tribals Small
processing units like deseeding of tamarind,
tamarind paste will give jobs to the local people.
Self help group can run these small processing
units but there is no focus on these issues.
The flower of Palash
(Fire of forest) is very good non toxic natural
colour. Villagers boil flowers of palash during
Holi festival and pour that coloured water on each
other and play Holi. A processing plant can be
established and the dry colour can be obtained
which is used in carpet industries. This is
natural, organic colour. It will fetch a very
handsome price.
Mahulan (Bauhinia
leaves) leaves and its bark (Chop) are used for
making leaf plants and ropes respectively, has
tremendous market in Southern India. Besides this,
acacia pods used as pot-pourri is being traded
internationally. It is collected in large amount
in Deoghar, Madhupur, Giridih, Singhbum areas and
exported from Tuticorin, Tamilnadu, So is the
market of the medicinal plants, gums and other
M.F.P. items.
Sal Leaf - Sal leaves
are collected from Sal trees and they are used in
making Sal plates, Dona by villagers. The
villagers sell the rough plates at the rate of Rs.
6.00 to 8.00 per 100 plates to the middle man.
These rough plates are converted in to hot
pressure plates and marketing sale price increase
from 6.00 rupees to 25.00 rupees per 100.
Anwala - After creation
of Jharkhand Anwala is planted in large scale.
Anwala fruits are collected by villagers and sold
@ of 5 to 6 rupees per Kg. Anwala is used in
making Chyavanprash, Murabba, Achar etc. Thus
value added to 40.00 rupees per Kg.
Medicinal Plants - A
variety of medicinal plants are grown in the
forest areas but its unscientific collection, poor
knowledge and non-availability of markets benefits
the people in small scale but the scope is
unlimited. The common varieties found in the
forests are Safed Musali, Chiraita, Kalihari,
Mulaithi, Gudmar, Pathar-Chur, Tulasi, Anwa, Bel,
Brahmi, Satawar, Jatamanshi etc.
Chironji is sold at
Rs.400/- kg in Reliance fresh store. The traders
collect this valuable nut in the exchange of salt
or rice.
These Ayurvedic medicines cure
many disease without any side effects.
Tribals of Jharkhand cure
themselves with the medicinal plants. They know
the medicinal value and property of the plants.
This knowledge is not passing to the next
generation. A time may come when very few people
will know about the medicinal values of these
plants. Therefore survey and enlisting of these
plants is urgently required. Medicinal plants
will give income and jobs to the rural poor.