How Mayurbhanj’s tribal women handcrafted a Rs70 lakh enterprise from sabai grass

Until a few years ago, Santal tribal artisan Ruibari Baskey, from Gopiabandh village in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha, earned her living by making ropes from sabai grass and selling them at the local weekly haat (market). Today, she also weaves a wide range of decorative and utility items from sabai grass, locally known as ‘Bobei Ghasa’. The shift from only traditional designs to modern products has significantly improved her family’s income.

Since she joined the Mayurbhanj Sabai Farmers Producer Company Ltd. (MSFPCL) in 2017, sabai grass craft has become her primary source of earnings. It adds Rs 7,000 to her earlier monthly income of Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 from rope-making. 

Each bundle of rope, known as ‘katha’, weighs around 1,200 grams and sells for Rs 60–70, while she buys sabai grass at Rs 30 per kg.

Sabai grass craft has grown rapidly under MSFPCL, which now includes 84 producer groups across more than 70 villages in 18 blocks, including Baripada and Suliapada.

Each producer group comprises 10 all-women self-help groups, with 10 to 15 members in each. Ruibari is part of the ‘Maa Maranguru’ self-help group under the producer group ‘Akhandalamani’.

She and 14 other women were trained with the support of the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), Directorate of Handicrafts, and Odisha Rural Development and Marketing Society (ORMAS). Their utility and home decor products are now marketed under the brand ‘Mayurshilpa’.

“Since our association with MSFPCL as shareholders, our financial status has improved. Our handmade items are sold to individuals and at over 40 exhibitions organised throughout the year in and outside Odisha by ORMAS and other state government departments," Ruibari tells 30Stades.

Earlier, each member deposited Rs 10 as her one-time share, which was enhanced to Rs 20 in 2020-21, she adds.

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“The income from my craft, which I take up in my free time after household work, adds to my spouse Rusika Murmu’s earnings from paddy cultivation. He grows paddy on less than one acre, earning over Rs. 16,000 annually,” she adds.

A sustainable market for eco-friendly craft

Sabai grass is a renewable and biodegradable plant that requires minimal water and no pesticides to grow. Its handcrafted products replace plastic and reduce pollution.

MSFPCL’s work has created a sustainable market for sabai products. Today, the selling price of sabai grass craft ranges widely from Rs 80 to Rs 25,000. A small item, such as a paperweight, costs Rs 80; table mats range between Rs 150 and Rs 350, a designer fruit basket sells for Rs 430, and a handbag for Rs 950. Large items, such as designer patio furniture, are priced at Rs 25,000.

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Manish Ranjan Mohanty, CEO of MSFPCL, says, “MSFPCL received financial assistance of about Rs 20 lakh from ITDA in 2017-18. It was used to set up infrastructure, including sheds and two sales outlets—one in Baripada and the other in Bhubaneswar.”

“While the outlet in Baripada earns over Rs. 1.5 lakh annually, the one in Bhubaneswar clocks an annual turnover of more than Rs 4.5 lakh. Online orders amount to 20 to 25 percent of total sales,” he says.

The company’s annual turnover grew from Rs 6.45 lakh in 2017-18 to over Rs 48.28 lakh in 2024-25. By November 10 this year, it has already reached that figure and is projected to cross Rs 70 lakh by the end of the financial year. 

Training and design expansion

To enhance design and quality, six trainers from the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Hyderabad, trained SHG artisans for a month in 2017-18. Each trainer received Rs 1,500 per day, excluding boarding and lodging. 

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The expenditure was met with Rs 61.50 lakh in assistance under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), which also supported company formation, GST registration, and provided each producer group with Rs 2 lakh in working capital.

“The NIFT experts trained 25 of us as master trainers, who then trained SHG members,” says master trainer Sumitra Barik of Salosahi village in Suliapada.

The number of design patterns has expanded from 150 basic designs to more than 400.

Even before MSFPCL’s formation, artisans had been trained by a master trainer from Baliapal in the Balesore district for three months under the ORMAS initiative. Later, in 2018-19, the Mayurbhanj Directorate of Handicrafts selected two experienced master trainers to train artisans for six months. Each trainer received Rs 15,000 per month, while each trainee received a Rs 2,000 monthly stipend.

“During my tenure, the monthly remuneration of a master trainer was enhanced to Rs. 20,000 in 2022-23, while the monthly stipend for trainees remains the same,” says Soumya Suravita Singh, former Assistant Director (Handicraft), Mayurbhanj.

A Delhi-based NGO, Asian Heritage Foundation (ASF), also trained beneficiaries for 10 days in 2017-18, providing a Rs 250 daily stipend to each trainee. ASF received Rs 1,500 per day, excluding other expenses. 

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Traditional craft growing with innovation

With coloured yarns and sliced date leaves, artisans today produce a wide range of handmade, ecofriendly products. Blue and yellow yarn costs Rs 1,200 per kilogram, other coloured yarns cost Rs 700 per kilogram, and sliced date leaves cost Rs 120–150 per kilogram. A trained artisan can make two to three small items like flowers or rakhis quickly, but crafting a dustbin takes around 15 days, while a furniture set requires more than 25 days.

“We have been tagged with seven organisations in places like Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad by TRIFED. We sell our items directly to those organisations and also to TRIFED individually,” says Usha Naik, a Bathudi tribal master trainer from Guhaldiha village.

Although women continue rope-making, it is now seasonal due to drying constraints. "Wet and cloudy rainy days hinder sun-drying of sabai grass, which takes three to four days,” explains Usha, who also grows sabai grass on less than half an acre.

Empowering women with dignity 

The rise of sabai grass craft has ensured regular earnings, boosted confidence, and strengthened decision-making power among tribal women in remote Mayurbhanj villages. What began as a modest rope-making activity has now grown into a thriving rural industry generating lakhs in revenue and offering sustainable livelihoods.

For artisans like Ruibari, every beautifully woven basket, mat, or bag represents more than craft. It is economic independence and hope.

(Niroj Ranjan Misra is a Cuttack-based freelance writer. He writes on rural and tribal life, social issues, art and culture, and sports.)

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