Bamboo in Orissa: Trade and Livelihood Perspective - Vasundhara

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• Bhati-tukuri: Medium-size double-woven baskets specially made for processing
fresh betel leaves in hot chambers so as to ensure a value addition through change
in colour(from greenish to whitish) and taste. A family can make 5 such baskets in
a day.
• Parcel -tukuri: Small-size baskets used for transporting betel leaves to other states.
A family can make 20 such baskets in a day.
The basket-makers and the betel-farmers are dependant on each other. When farming was
reduced by 50%, production of the above kind of baskets was also reduced by 50% since
these are used by the betel merchants. Demand of these baskets is a remarkable indicator of
the status of betel-farming.
Nuagaon is a big village near Kujang in the Jagatsinghpur district where most of the people
are dependant on betel business. This village requires about 1500 parcel-tukuris per week,
3000 bhati-tukuris in every three months(because these baskets are durable for 3 months),
and 1500 pata per month.
A bamboo costing Rs.20 can be processed in various stages to make 10 parcel-tukuris in a
day, by a family (two adults and children). The product is sold @Rs.5/piece.
The production cost varies in different districts depending on the cost of the raw material
and the specifications. For instance, in Sahada village(Jagatsinghpur district) what the
artisans purchase @Rs.50-60 per piece supplied locally, costs Rs.80 if it comes from north
Orissa.
Similarly, the pata prepared in Sahada village is made of bamboo-laths thinner and wider
than that used by the artisans of Nimapara district. Difference on raw material cost is said
to be the reason behind this. The Nimapara product is 2 or 3 times more durable than the
Sahada product.
Marketing:
At national level, the market potential of bamboo has been estimated to be approx. Rs.4463
crore with a projected annual growth rate of 15-20%( Karmakar K., and Haque M.,
Bamboo and Rural Employment, Yojana, July 2004, p.21 The total market opportunity of
bamboo in Orissa in various segments (industrial consumption, bamboo-craft, etc.) is said
to be around Rs.6000 million (Mohanty D., op.cit.). Out of this, the value of IB would by
about Rs.56 million in 2005 calculated @Rs.750/ton(working cost upto depot) for the
targeted 75000 tons.
The production of forest bamboo in 1999-2000 was 152569 Sale Units(SU) valued at Rs.
2161.24 lakhs (source: Statistical Section, Office of the PCCF).
It was only though the industrial use that large-scale commercial marketing of bamboo
could be possible more than half-century ago. Since then IB has assumed the major role in
the state bamboo business although loss of bamboo forests and increase in tenant's
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