A forest department nursery at Seraikela-Kharsawan

Seraikela will soon be part of the state boom in lac and tussar silk, with the forest department ready to embark on a massive drive to plant host trees on which the productive insects and worms feed.

The Seraikela-Kharsawan forest division has marked out an area of 250 acres for sowing 2.5 lakh saplings of ber, palash and kusum trees for lac production and arjun and asan for hosting tussar silk in the Seraikela jungles.

The forest department will soon raise the saplings in temporary nurseries.

Seraikela divisional forest officer A.T. Mishra said the initiative would benefit self-help groups (SHG) and villagers in the district. “SHGs and villagers will be able to produce lac and silk once the trees become capable of hosting the insects, the essentials of the produce,” he added.

The initiative aims to introduce over 250 members of SHGs to lac production and as many to tussar silk. “We are already distributing lac seeds to the SHGs. We want them to benefit from the minor forest produce,” Mishra told The Telegraph.

Following in the footsteps of nearby Kuchai, a hub of tussar silk, the people of Seraikela can now hope to spin similar success stories.

The plantation drive will be launched in June-July while the trees will begin hosting lac and silk in four years. “We have already done the spadework by holding meetings with self-help groups and rural people in Seraikela. We will also engage them in the plantation drive,” Mishra said.

The Seraikela-Kharsawan forest division will approach the sericulture wing of the state industry department and the Indian Lac Research Institute. “We will need the guidance of the two Ranchi-based agencies for giving shape to our initiative,” Mishra added.

The sericulture wing and the lac research institute will aid in providing lac and silk-producing insects to the SHGs.

Besides, plans are afoot to train SHGs in bamboo products and saal leaf plate making skills. Forest officials also plan to launch a bamboo plantation drive in the district.

Mishra promised to ensure the products benefited SHGs and villagers.