Bamboo in Orissa: Trade and Livelihood Perspective - Vasundhara

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B. Non-traditional products:
1. Ladies handbag (Lachhipur, Sonepur):
Per piece, raw material: Rs.15(inclusive of adhesive)
Labour: 2 mandays
Sale price: Rs.50(local) to Rs.100(state-level exhibitions)
2. Hanging lamp(Lachhipur):
Per piece, raw material: Rs.25(electrical accessories extra)
Labour: 3-4 mandays
Sale price: Rs.150(local) to Rs.200(state-level exhibitions)
3. Lantern(Lachhipur):
Per piece, raw material: Rs.35(inclusive of electrical accessories)
Labour: 2 mandays
Sale price: Rs.150(local) to Rs.200(state-level exhibitions)
4. Hairclip(Lachhipur):
Per piece, total cost of production: Rs.5
Sale price: Rs.15(local) (Source: National Rural Development Council, Sonepur)
5. Eagle(Sianbahal, Sundargarh):
Per piece, raw material: Rs.50(inclusive of adhesive, etc.)
Labour: 2 mandays
Sale price: Rs.200(state-level exhibitions) (Source: Pratap Nayak and others)
One can see in these cases that cost of raw material is significantly less than that of labour.
Fine and delicate canes are extracted from small quantity of bamboo.
Delicate work often causes considerable wastage of the raw material(bamboo cane) due to
damage during weaving or extraction. If the price of a hairclip is three times of the
production cost, then that is due to this factor i.e., the sale price compensates the loss due
to damage.
Colour can be applied, but often the transparent Touchwood(polyurethin coating) is applied
which imparts a glaze and increases durability.
6. Furnitures:
Bamboo furnitures were introduced by an NGO Aparajita under their project for supporting
artisans of super-cyclone-affected areas. Villagers of Sahada in Jagatsinghpur district, and
Tikhiri in Kendrapara district have been imparted training on using bamboo for making
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