Maoist stronghold Khunti, also the birthplace of tribal icon Birsa Munda, is inching away from the infamous poppy (opium) cultivation to lemongrass oil production -- a move that could change the fortunes of people in the poverty-stricken district of Jharkhand.
About 60 km south of state capital
Ranchi, Khunti is one of the districts worst affected by left wing extremists.
It is here that the Pathalgarhi movement—a tribal rebellion triggered in
2017-18 against the then BJP government’s move to amend decades old land
tenancy acts – was the strongest among all districts of Jharkhand. It is where
opium cultivation, backed by Naxals, is rampant.
It is also this very place where two brothers - Charan Munda and Sanika Munda, resident of Kojdong, are now scripting a success story. With help from local NGO Sewa Welfare Society, the duo has been cultivating lemongrass in their three-acre land since last year despite the soil being infertile and mostly full of rubble.
The brothers are now not only
cultivating lemongrass but also using an indigenous technology to extract oil.
Their work has been noted by state agriculture and animal husbandry minister
Badal Patralekh, who has promised more budgetary resources and training to
farmers for promoting the cultivation of the herb.
In the absence of distillation plants, the brothers are currently using the same technology to extract lemongrass oil which they had been using to produce country made fermented liquor from Mahua.
The flowers of Mahua are found in abundance in tribal hinterlands and are an important food item for tribals.
“We have used the case study of Munda
brothers to motivate other villagers in Khunti to take up plantation of
lemongrass instead of poppy (opium). We are receiving demand for oil not only
from Jharkhand but also other states,” says Sewa Welfare Society President Ajay
Sharma, who has mentored them in lemongrass cultivation.
The brothers explained in mundari
(language of Munda locals in Jharkhand) how the indigenous distillation unit
works.
Indigenous technology to make fermented liquor from Mahua is being used to extract lemongrass oil. Pic: Shawn Eli
“We place two degchis (aluminium stewpots) one over the other and connect the upper degchi with a plastic pipe to let the steam pass through it. Both the utensils are filled with lemongrass and put on a chulha (clay stove). The vapour passes through the pipe and gets collected in another degchi kept in a tub filled with water and covered with a wooden box.
“This degchi has a hole in the side which is connected with a plastic
bottle. The oil is collected in this bottle,” the elder brother Charan says.
The Maoists and criminal nexus has long
promoted opium cultivation in Khunti, leading police to destroy these crops at
frequent intervals during the long range patrolling and combing operation
against the naxals. Opium is an addictive narcotic and is obtained by drying
the poppy seed pod.
“The CPI (Maoists) and People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI) are involved in illegal cultivation of poppy in Khunti, which is the second largest producer of poppy in Jharkhand after Chatra, another Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected district," says a senior official in the narcotics bureau unit in Jharkhand deputed at Ranchi, requesting anonymity.
"Thousands of acres of poppy cultivation are destroyed by police every year but that has failed to check the problem as it involves huge profits for both farmers and Naxals,” the official adds.
A more
viable livelihood choice
But the lemongrass initiative is significant in trying to wean away villagers to a more viable livelihood option.
While one litre of Lemongrass oil is sold at more than Rs 1500 in market, one kg of opium fetches in excess of Rs 40,000.
“Earlier, the villagers had no option
for livelihood and were forced to take up poppy cultivation. We have given them
an option and they have seen the changes in the lives of the two brothers as
they have earned over Rs 1.5 lakh in a year,” says Sharma.
Lemongrass is now being cultivated in nearly 60 acres in Khunti. Pic: Shawn Eli
The initiative that began in 2019 has
motivated others too and now lemongrass is being cultivated in nearly 60 acres
in Khunti. “Locals who earlier used to produce liquor and cultivate opium for
livelihood are now earning a better and healthier livelihood without fear of
their crops being destroyed by police,” Sharma adds.
Deputy commissioner of Khunti Suraj
Kumar says once the villagers realise that extracting oil is more beneficial
than producing opium, they will stop its cultivation and Khunti will be free
from opium. “Even with the indigenous technology, they can produce 300 ml of
oil from one kg of Lemongrass which is about the same amount as in a modern
distillation unit,” says Kumar.
East Indian Lemongrass (botanical name
Cymbopogon flexuosus) is a fast growing tall aromatic perennial grass and can
be cut once in three months and once planted it can go on for five years. Oil
extracted from the fresh or partly dried leaves by steam distillation is used
as a medical herb and in perfumes. The oil also blends with other essential
oils such as cedarwood oil, lavender oil and rosemary oil that are used in
aromatherapy.
State agriculture minister Badal
Patralekh says the Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (a unit of
state rural development department) along with the district agriculture unit
will train the farmers in modern methods of cultivating lemongrass.
“JSLPS and district agriculture will
join hands to help villagers derive better yields. We have plans to install
distillation units in all the blocks. It is our social responsibility to help
the villagers get rid of opium menace through lemongrass as a viable means of
livelihood. JSLPS will also help in the marketing of lemongrass,” Patralekh
adds.
A little push from NGOs and the local government is likely to go a long way. Promoting lemongrass oil production is giving a new lease of life to the Munda people of Jharkhand and may slowly erase decades of poverty.
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