Introduction to Lac and Lac Culture - Birsa Agricultural University

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Introduction to Lac and Lac Culture branches more that 2.5 cm diameter should be sharply cut leaving a stump of 30-45 cm from the base. Diseased and dead portion of branches should be removed completely. Light pruning is recommended for slow growing conventional tree host species like palas, kusum and ber. (ii) Basal / heavy pruning: Branches having less than 7 cm thickness should be removed from the base, whereas thicker branches should be cut at a place where it has a diameter of 7 cm. In quick growing bushy host, pruning should be done at a height of 10-15 cm from the ground level e.g. Flemingia macrophylla, F. semialata. Pruning time After several years of experimenting at Indian Lac Research Institute ( presently I.I.N.R.G.), Ranchi, Jharkhand, it has been found that the best results are obtained by pruning in February for raising the Katki crop and in April for raising the Baisakhi crop in the case of major Rangeeni host, ber and palas. Pruning in these months will give shoots four and six months old respectively for the lac larvae to feed on. In case of kusum, pruning is best done in the month of June-July and January – February. These months coincide with those in which the crops mature and so harvesting of the mature crop serves the purpose of pruning also. Pruning time will, however need to be adjusted to suit local conditions. Under Chhotanagpur (Jharkhand) condition the following pruning times for different lac hosts have been found suitable for lac culture . Kusum (Schleichera oleosa) : Prunning should be done either in January / February or in June / July. Khair (Acacia catechu) : Pruning is to be done in March. However, harvesting of lac crop during February may be used to serve as pruning also. Ber (Zizyphus mauritiana) : Pruning should be done in February for inoculation in July and in April / May for inoculation in October-November. For Kusmi lac crop, ber should be pruned 5 months before inoculation. However, recent observations have shown that harvesting of Aghani crop during February may also serve as pruning for inoculation in June – July. Palas (Butea monosperma) : Pruning should be done in February for lac inoculation in July and April for inoculation in October – November. Ficus spp. : Pruning is to be done in April for inoculation in July and in May for inoculation in October. Pruning instruments Most of the lac cultivators do pruning with axes. Proper pruning can not be done with the axe. If branches are cut with axe, they will either break or split. In both the cases damage to tree will be 17
Introduction to Lac and Lac Culture caused at cutting place in form of scraping of bark or splitting, giving opportunity for insect pest attack. The ideal pruning instruments are secateurs and long handled tree prunners. Of these instruments, the most valuable are the long handled tree prunners. There are two types of secateurs. These are Roll cut secateur and the French secateur. The former is better and easier to use but is easily damaged by careless handling Pruning is also done with pruning knife and Dauli. The use of pruning shear and pruning saw fitted in long handle makes the operation easier as the pruning is done directly by standing on ground and climbing is avoided. Collection of brood lac Lac sticks, having mature female insects ready to give rise to the next generation are called brood lac. As the female lac insect is capable of giving rise to a large number of larvae and to get the maximum benefit, it is essential that the brood should be cut at the proper time, so as to secure the emergence of the maximum possible number of larvae from it. 18 PREPARATION OF BROOD LAC BUNDLE For quality of brood lac, lac crops should be harvested only when mature. The cutting of brood lac should be taken up at the correct time keeping in view the swarming period i.e. the expected date of larval emergence. The ideal time of cutting would be that which will result in the swarming, starting immediately or within a couple of days of tying the brood on the host plant. Selection of brood lac After the brood lac has been cut from the plants, it is necessary to subject it to proper examination, so that only healthy lac with the minimum signs of predator and parasite damage is selected for use as brood lac. This is necessary to minimize the chances of propagation of the insect enemies of lac insects. Inoculation of brood lac This operation includes putting of bundles of brood lac (lac sticks containing gravid females) in the host twigs for allowing young lac larvae (crawlers) to come out of their mother cells and settle on the host plant.
Page 1: Introduction to Tech. Bull. FBTI :
Page 4 and 5: Forward T he compilation “Introdu
Page 6 and 7: FAcULTy OF FORESTRy BIRSA AGRIcULTU
Page 8 and 9: Introduction to Lac and Lac Culture
Page 12 and 13: WHAT IS LAC? Introduction to Lac an
Page 16 and 17: Area wise utilization of lac hosts
Page 18 and 19: Sl. No. Inoculation with Lac Swarmi
Page 22 and 23: SCIENTIFIC METHOD OF LAC CULTIVATIO
Page 26 and 27: INOCULATION OF BROOD LAC Following
Page 28 and 29: ENEMIES OF LAC INSECTS Introduction
Page 30 and 31: Sl. No. Insect Predator Order Famil

Introduction to Lac and Lac Culture - Birsa Agricultural University

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