Introduction: Mahua (Madhuca indica) is an important Forest Wealth and it is a major source of income in forest villages of India. Maharashtra has about 3,000 forest villages and the number of Mahua tree in some selected district is given here.
1) Gondia district (forest area 34%) 1.5 million;
2) Chandrapur (forest area about 33.44%) 1.2 million,
3) Gadchiroli (forest area about 78.40%) 1.9 million
4) Bhandara (forest area about 33.33%) 1 million
Economic Potential of Mahua:
a) Flowers: 30 to 50 kg / tree / year (on dry weight basis). Rate Rs. 50/- / Kg
b) Seed: 20 kg / per tree / year. Rate Rs. 30/- / Kg
Seed contains about 35% oil and 16% protein.
For generating a trade out of this commodity Dr. Soham Pandya conducts training programs and transfers methods of i) Collection of raw materials form the forest; ii) Pre-treatment; iii) Dehydration; iv) Bulk packing; v) Storage; vi) Processing of fresh and stored raw material vii) Quality control viii) Packaging ix) Marketing; x) Bulk storage
Following items are derived from Mahua:
Sharbat
Energy Drink (Kalp)
Jam
Murabba and
Candy:
Economics: One mature tree of Mahua gives at least 50 Kg of flowers (dry weight). At a rate of Rs. 20/- per Kg (rates as per year 2017-2018) total income to the villagers from 1.5 million trees of Mahua in Gondia district is about Rupees 1,500 million every year. This information is on the basis of first hand report of forest department and on field survey by Dr. Soham Pandya.
By employing Appropriate Technologies, selected villagers have started processing Mahua for preservation, product diversification and value addition. Now a person is able to make at least Rs. 100/- per kg dry but processed flowers of Mahua (i.e. Candy).
Technology Transfer: Technology has been transferred to 300 villagers of Gondia and Jalgaon district.
