88
R. Kumar and P. Saikia
by the farmers. Jharkhand is lacking for big industries; hence medicinal plants are
not utilized so commercially in Jharkhand. More than 1500 ethnomedicinal plants
are found in Jharkhand (Barla 2006) and are mainly supplied to the industries in
West Bengal. Some selected medicinal plants of Jharkhand (Ansari et al. 2016) are
shown in Table 11. The pressure on forest wealth of medicinal plant is too much
because epidemiological surveys show preferences by pharmaceutical companies,
practitioner and consumers for wild gathered species on the belief that wild plants
are more powerful. To ease the existing pressure on traditional forest it is significant
to do monitoring of abundance and distribution, assessment of annual yields and
records of the harvest practices. The scientifically improved harvesting techniques
will lead to better prices for cultivator and also allow recovery time of plants and
trees for future harvests. A sizeable number of medicinal plant cultivators have also
lost money in investing in the medicinal plantation due to inadequate understanding
of volatile dynamics of the herbal industry.
5.6 Sal Plates Manufacturing Industry
Sal leaf is one of the most important NTFPs collected and processed among tribal
communities of Jharkhand (Singh and Quli 2011; Bedia 2014). Plate making with
sal leaves is a prevailing and widespread household activity for livelihood sustenance
among the ethnic people to increase their household income. Sal is worshipped by ethnic people of Jharkhand and they celebrate Sarhul festival when new flowers appear
in the sal trees and the deities are worshipped with sal flowers (Rasul et al. 2008).
Skillfully stitched and pressed sal leaf plates are cheap, disposable, bio-degradable
ecological substitute for thermocol and plastic plates and are used locally in the shops,
petty hotels, temples, marriage, festivals, etc. They are also preferred by increasingly
eco-conscious people and thus there is a great domestic as well as global demand
(Champion and Seth 1968). Sal leaf plate making is traditional, less remunerative
and incommensurate to labour among Munda, Oraon, and Lohara of Jharkhand (Quli
and Singh 2010). Sal leaves are collected mostly by women and children by using
20–25 ft. long pluckers or by picking up the leaves fallen on the forest ground. Generally, twigs with 4–5 leaves are plucked and the leaves are removed from the twigs
(Fig. 4a). They go to forest early in the morning and return by 10 or 11 a.m. and
this practice is in vogue for about 8 months excluding March and April and July
and August. The green leaves are stitched together using small bamboo (Bambusa
bamboos (L.) Voss. or Dendrocalamus strictus (Roxb.) Nees or neem (Azadirachta
indica A. Juss.) nails into Pattal (raw plates) (Fig. 4b). The stitched plates are dried
for 3–4 h in an open space under the sun with utmost care to avoid the fungal attack
(Fig. 4c). During the rainy season, the plates are sold without drying at very lowprices. The dried plates are packed loosely and are generally transported by bicycle to
a nearby market by villagers. Villagers sell plates to either local haat (weekly market)
or to a petty trader from there it reaches to different levels of traders and ultimately,
it reaches consumers through retailers. Further, poor marketing infrastructure, lack
R. Kumar and P. Saikia
by the farmers. Jharkhand is lacking for big industries; hence medicinal plants are
not utilized so commercially in Jharkhand. More than 1500 ethnomedicinal plants
are found in Jharkhand (Barla 2006) and are mainly supplied to the industries in
West Bengal. Some selected medicinal plants of Jharkhand (Ansari et al. 2016) are
shown in Table 11. The pressure on forest wealth of medicinal plant is too much
because epidemiological surveys show preferences by pharmaceutical companies,
practitioner and consumers for wild gathered species on the belief that wild plants
are more powerful. To ease the existing pressure on traditional forest it is significant
to do monitoring of abundance and distribution, assessment of annual yields and
records of the harvest practices. The scientifically improved harvesting techniques
will lead to better prices for cultivator and also allow recovery time of plants and
trees for future harvests. A sizeable number of medicinal plant cultivators have also
lost money in investing in the medicinal plantation due to inadequate understanding
of volatile dynamics of the herbal industry.
5.6 Sal Plates Manufacturing Industry
Sal leaf is one of the most important NTFPs collected and processed among tribal
communities of Jharkhand (Singh and Quli 2011; Bedia 2014). Plate making with
sal leaves is a prevailing and widespread household activity for livelihood sustenance
among the ethnic people to increase their household income. Sal is worshipped by ethnic people of Jharkhand and they celebrate Sarhul festival when new flowers appear
in the sal trees and the deities are worshipped with sal flowers (Rasul et al. 2008).
Skillfully stitched and pressed sal leaf plates are cheap, disposable, bio-degradable
ecological substitute for thermocol and plastic plates and are used locally in the shops,
petty hotels, temples, marriage, festivals, etc. They are also preferred by increasingly
eco-conscious people and thus there is a great domestic as well as global demand
(Champion and Seth 1968). Sal leaf plate making is traditional, less remunerative
and incommensurate to labour among Munda, Oraon, and Lohara of Jharkhand (Quli
and Singh 2010). Sal leaves are collected mostly by women and children by using
20–25 ft. long pluckers or by picking up the leaves fallen on the forest ground. Generally, twigs with 4–5 leaves are plucked and the leaves are removed from the twigs
(Fig. 4a). They go to forest early in the morning and return by 10 or 11 a.m. and
this practice is in vogue for about 8 months excluding March and April and July
and August. The green leaves are stitched together using small bamboo (Bambusa
bamboos (L.) Voss. or Dendrocalamus strictus (Roxb.) Nees or neem (Azadirachta
indica A. Juss.) nails into Pattal (raw plates) (Fig. 4b). The stitched plates are dried
for 3–4 h in an open space under the sun with utmost care to avoid the fungal attack
(Fig. 4c). During the rainy season, the plates are sold without drying at very lowprices. The dried plates are packed loosely and are generally transported by bicycle to
a nearby market by villagers. Villagers sell plates to either local haat (weekly market)
or to a petty trader from there it reaches to different levels of traders and ultimately,
it reaches consumers through retailers. Further, poor marketing infrastructure, lack