Ranchi, Dec. 14: If the state is to regain its position as the leading producer of lac in the country, then it must have a nodal agency that can co-ordinate among all departments associated with lac production and between the Centre and the state, too.

The suggestion came from Bangali Baboo, the director of the Indian Institute of Natural Resins and Gums (IINRG), Namkum.

Jharkhand has surrendered its top position as a lac-producing state to Chhattisgarh. In 2004-05, the state produced 10,780 tonnes of lac, which was 50.6 per cent of the total national production of 21,300 tonnes.

In comparison, the state could produce only 6,385 tonnes of lac in 2007-08, sources at IINRG said.

This despite the fact that the state has six agencies equipped with good infrastructure to deal with forest and agriculture production. These agencies are IINRG, Institute of Forest Productivity, Ranchi, Jharkhand State Co-operative Lac Marketing and Procurement Federation Limited; forest department, welfare department and Birsa Agricultural University.

“If the state is keen on preventing a further decline in the production of lac and regain its supreme position in the country as a lac producer, then it must declare one of the six agencies as the nodal department for co-ordinating lac developmental efforts by the state and the centre,” said Baboo.

But as these institutions and departments have different mandate, their efforts are not co-ordinated.

Hence, it is necessary to have a nodal department to co-ordinate efforts in improving production of lac, Baboo said.

The revival of lac production is necessary for socio-economic reasons, too.

“Production of lac and its products constitute the largest agro-processing industry of the state that provides livelihood to about four lakh families. It also earns the state about Rs 50 crore as foreign exchange. Hence, this is reason enough for taking consorted efforts to improve lac production in this state,” scientists pointed out.

The state has 25 lac processing units with a combined processing capacity of about 6,500 tonnes per annum. Seedlac, shellac, button lac, bleached lac, aleuritic acid, and lac dye are made here.