To promote shellac (lac) trade and its export, and to protect the tribal populace who collect it in forests, the state government has accorded it a ‘national’ status, raising the procurement prices. There are expectations that its trade will touch Rs 30 crore by next year.
Shellac is a minor forest produce and once Madhya Pradesh was one of the leading states to produce shellac on large quality. As of now the production is at 65,000 quintals against the overall India’s production of 7 lakh quintals. Moreover the state also has plans to set up a couple of processing units to export it.
As many as 10 districts, namely Hoshangabad, Narsinghpur, Balaghat, Seoni, Mandla, Dindori, Umaria, Shahdol, Anuppur and Dindori, grow shellac on Palash (botanically known as Butea Frondosa) and Kusum (also known as Ceylon oak). The Madhya Pradesh Minor Forest Produce and Trading Federation, a government entity, has been appointed a nodal agency to procure shellac at Rs 60-90 per kg. “Earlier the middlemen used to offer hardly Rs 30-40 per kg. As a result the collectors and growers were always at exploitation stage,” said Vishwas Sarang, chairman of the federation. “We are aiming at increasing its production to 90,000 quintals by next year and creating more than 5 lakh jobs and a total trade of Rs 30 crore in rural areas of the state,” he said.
A closed processing unit in Seoni district has been revived and four new units are in planning stage. However, it is not clear how the federation will set up these processing units. “We will set up the units either at own or invite private players; we are looking into all possibilities,” he added. World over, shellac is used in various industries; fruit polishing, record player manufacturing etc.