Study on Mahua Sub Sector - Cgsird.gov.in

2.6 Limitations
The study is limited to studying the Mahua flower sub sector. Another major product of
Mahua tree, Mahua seed is part of a completely different value chain and hence is not
part of this study. Trade in Mahua flower is considered a very secretive affair and it is
difficult to get reliable data. Various secondary sources give very different sets of data for
comparable years. The range of variation is as high as 200 per cent. It is neither a
nationalized item nor an excisable item in undivided Madhya Pradesh even before PESA
came into force. Hence Govt. departments do not have the Mahua flower related data for
the last one and a half decade. Unless it is transported over longer distances, transit pass
and mandi receipts are not required. In fact the mandi in charge told us that barely 5-10
per cent of total production comes to mandi. Hence the study has to rely on primary
sources of data and estimates made in studies conducted earlier.
3. Sub sector Map
3.1.1 The production sub system
Mahua trees are found both in forest lands and in lands owned by the individuals.
Farmers with more lands are expected to have more number of Mahua trees. The practice
is to collect Mahua flower from own trees first and then go to the forest for collection. An
estimated 35pc of the collection comes from own trees and rest from forests. Mahua
flowering happens for around 4-6 weeks between March to May. But the period varies
from place to place. Rains during this period affect the crop. The process of collection
starts with cleaning of the forest floor on the previous day. Next day morning the women
and children go to the tree/forest forest for collection. It continues from early in the
morning till the sun is right above the head(from 6 am till 1 pm). The effective collection
days per household are 20 days in a season. Collection is done by women and children of
the household in the baskets, which are hand made out of bamboo. On an average one
family member manages to collect 10-15 kgs (1=Gapa=1Basket) of Mahua in a day.
Collection from one Mahua tree varies from 1.5 to 3quintals depending upon the age and
the girth of the tree.
An average sized tree yields about 50 – 100 kg of flower in a season that lasts around a
month. It is said that low rainfall in previous year adversely affects flower production.
One Mahua tree has an annual average yield of 62.5 kg of flower and 59 kg of gully as
per one study. Another study done by SFRI, Jabalpur finds that yield per tree varies
between 11.43 to 76.8 Kg a year.