Giji K. Raman
MARAYUR (IDUKKI DISTRICT),
The Hindu, January 26, 2015
Come mid-January, and tribal settlements on the
Marayur-Chinnar forest belt would be buzzing with activity. It is the
season for processing lemon grass oil, and the area has the largest
number of extracting units in the country.
There are
hundreds of such units in the Muthuvan and Hill Pulaya settlements,
where lemon grass is cultivated abundantly. Oil is extracted twice or
thrice a year, with this season providing the highest yield. Lemon grass
is usually dried under sun before the oil is extracted.
“Mist
and rain could play spoilsport. Though oil can be extracted from fresh
grass, it yields very less oil,” says Paramasivam of Kammalankudy. Lemon
grass provides livelihood to 1,000-odd tribal families and the Forest
Department encourages its cultivation as a means to prevent soil erosion
and help soil regeneration.
Marayur Divisional
Forest Officer Saby Varghese says that lemon grass, which has high
citral and alkaloid content, is cultivated in almost 1,500 hectares of
forestland.
There is much demand for the region’s
lemon grass oil from pharmaceutical and detergent companies because of
the superior quality of the product. The Forest Department purchases it
at Rs.1,130 per kg.
Around 40 tribal settlements have
lemon grass extracting units with an average of 10 to 30 in each ‘kudy’
(settlement), says M.G. Vinodkumar, Marayur Range Officer. The main
settlements under lemon grass cultivation are Kammalankudy,
Kuthukallukudy, Nellipettykudy, Thengaparakudy, Puravayal, Karpoorakudy,
Theerthamala, Vannathurai, Palpettykudy, Pollavayal, Alampettykudy,
Iruttala, Olikudy and Vellakalkudy.
The tribespeople
have been extracting the oil for generations. They cut the grass during
day and extract the oil at night. Though the Forest Department planned
to set up a modern extracting unit to reduce the dependence on firewood
and to improve the oil quality, it was put on hold since it would have
disrupted the traditional extraction process, which is closely connected
to the tribal lifestyle, says Mr. Varghese.
Burning
firewood in the wintry cold is part of the tribespeople’s life. So is
the fire in the extracting units. “Any intervention, however minor, in
the processing could make them drift away from the industry. Let them
extract the oil in their own way. It has a charm that cannot be easily
gauged by others,” Mr. Varghese said.
