The Kendu Leaf Trade: Problems & Prospects in Orissa - Vasundhara

The Kendu Leaf Trade: Problems & Prospects in Orissa
1.Kendu leaf: an introduction:
The source of kendu leaf(KL) is the plant Diospyros melanoxylon which is a species that can
grow upto 20 metres, but is normally found as a shrub on government waste lands and degraded
forest lands because of the annual cutting aimed at better production of leaves.In some areas like
in the Athamallik-Rairakhol region this also grows on private lands particularly because many
such private lands were actually KL growing forest lands, and the people who converted its
status for agricultural purpose allowed the bushes to grow as they took it as a parallel source of
income. The leaves supplied from such private lands are known as praja patra(tenants’ leaves),
and the Forest Department procures the same under the name of growers’ leaves(GL) priced on
the basis of not the number of leaves(keri), but the weight(quintal).
The plant is a very good coppicer, and produces good leaves only after coppicing. Hence, each
year, during the month of February-March the bushes are cut at an angle with the stem, and good
leaves come out by April-May for collection. Pluckers start their collection early in the morning,
and by evening they dispose of the leaves at the nearest collection and processing center(phadi)
of the Forest Department(KL wing), in the form of small bundles(keri) each containing 20
leaves(40 leaves in phal areas). The KL wing makes arrangements for proper drying and
processing(putting leaves of different qualities under different categories), and then transfers the
stock to Orissa Forest Development Corporation(OFDC), a public sector undertaking, for
marketing. The stock thus received by OFDC is sold first through tenders, and then through
auction. For this, OFDC gets 4% commission (excluding 1% for construction of godowns in the
total 5%) from the gross sale proceeds, and after deducting the working cost plus other kinds of
expenditure (tax, etc.), the rest is required to be paid by the Corporation to the government 1 .
2.Commercial use of kendu leaf:
Till date the one & only commercial use of kendu leaf has been as the wrapping material for bidi,
the country cigar. Bidi is known as poor man’s cigarette because the low-income category,
especially those belonging to the labour class, who find to difficult to afford branded cigarettes,
go for this cheap and alternative form of smoking.
Archival studies find a reference of bidi in India dating back to 1711 A.D.(GoI: MHFW 2004,
p.13).However, large scale commercial production of bidi in organized form is supposed to be
more or less 100 years old in the country.
Normally, some comparatively coarser and low-processed tobacco is wrapped with about onefourth
of a kendu leaf to make a single bidi. After wrapping both the ends are folded, and a
thread is tied on the bidi to further secure the binding. It is the tobacco, which is the actual
identity of any particular brand of bidi. Each brand has its own flavour, and users addicted to any
particular flavour(brand) normally do not prefer other brands unless they find the latter more
1 In actual practice, the Corporation has however retained a part of this amount, owing to its financial problems, as a
result of which the net receipt at the end of the government has remained substantially lower than the actual amount.
As 50% of this net receipt is released as KL grant, the latter is affected.
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