International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology ISSN 2250 – 1959(0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) An Internationally Indexed Peer Reviewed & Refereed Journal
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IRJMST Vol 8 Issue 12 [Year 2017] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367(Print)
Murta plant, aNon-wood forest product can be a sustainable source of rural income in Northeastern part of India Malabika Bhattacharjee1
Department of Ecology and Environmental Science Karimganj College Karimganj -788710, Assam, India
Arpita Seal2
Department of Ecology and Environmental Science Karimganj College Karimganj -788710, Assam, India
Abstract
Artisans of famous Shital pati are known as Patiara. Pati making though small, is a famous cottage industry in Northeastern part of India. A survey was done to prepare a list of pati prepared by Patiara people, raw materials used in pati making and to know the status of this neglected cottage industry. Among five different types of pati, price of Shital pati is highest and it has high demand in different parts of the country and abroad. This paper highlights how Patiara people are accepting the challenges for survival and how Murta plant can become a sustainable source of income for poor Patiara community. This cottage industry is not getting its due weightage and artisans involved in this cottage industry are facing problems in maintaining their livelihood.
Keywords: Patiara community, Pati, Cottage industry
1. INTRODUCTION
Karimganj district is famous for ‘Shital Pati’, a traditional cool bed mat in North Eastern India. Shital Pati is made using raw material produced from “MURTA” plant.Schumannianthus dichotomus (Marantaceae) is the scientific name of Murta plant. The plant is also known as Pati Doi in Assamese and Murta, Mostak, and Pati betpatipata and paitara in Bengali[1]. Geographically Murta is distributed in Bangladesh, West Bengal, Assam, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo and the Philippines[2]. In India it is found in riverine areas like Majuli island in Assam, and in Bangladesh the plant is found especially in the swamp forests of Sylhet[3].In Barak Valley, Assam, Kaliganj and Kathakal are very famous for Sital Pati. Making of ‘Shitalpati’ is a family based cottage industry in this remote part of Northeast and only means of livelihood for many landless families of these two villages. Almost all family members are involved in this small scale cottage industry. Kaliganj also has its own market place which is very popular for mat dealing. Murta plant is the main material for pati weaving. Besides different types of pati, people make other items viz., baskets, wall hangings, file covers, bags, pen stands and various other novelty items. These mats are
International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 141 IRJMST Vol 8 Issue 12 [Year 2017] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367(Print) intimately connected with the everyday needs and also with culture and tradition of this region. Shital Pati is considered auspicious regarding the rituals and religious purposes in Barak Valley[4].
The manufacture of Sital Pati is a complicated process which involves several steps. Usually women make mats during breaks between household chores. Male members collect raw material and make strips from the outer portion of the stem. The strips from the pith portion are used as binding material. These split strips are processed and plaited into mats. Almost all family member of an artisan involved themselves in this pati making process. The most difficult part of it is the preparation of fine cane slips fit for Pati weaving. First of all, the slips are needed to be washed with the help of soda. After washing, these cane slips are spread in the open sun for drying. These are then divided into equal halves lengthwise, with the help of a Dao (Billhook). These divided halves are again subdivided in to four splits of equal length and breadth and the soft inside portion from slips is chopped out with the help of a chopping tool. This process is known as planing. The next operation is known as sizing in which all the pieces of the splits are sized to equal breadths throughout the whole of their length. Weaving of Pati is generally done in a check pattern with slight variations. Colouring of the slips is done by indigenous methods [4].
There is an interesting story related to this age old cottage industry in Kaliganj. According to local people of Boleshwar, once there was a Peer (Sufi master or spiritual guide) who brought the Murta plant and planted it at Kaliganj. He told the villagers to start pati making and told them that this profession will help them in their survival. Since then they are involved in this profession. The villagers of Boleshwar, Kaliganj Panchayat also collect Murta plant from nearby villages viz., Bihara, Balia, Khagail, Kalain, Shunai for pati making. Present study aims to reveal how Patiara people are accepting the challenges for survival. For lack of capital, pati making cottage industry is not getting its due weightage and artisans involved in this cottage industry are facing problems in maintaining their livelihood. This study also highlights the role of of S. dichotopmus in earnings of livelihood for rural poor people of Patiara community of Kaliganj.
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study was conducted in Boleshwar village, Kaliganj. Kaliganj, a village panchayat located in the southern part of Karimganj district of Assam, India. Kaliganj panchayat has ten villages. Main occupation of inhabitants of Kaliganj is agriculture and pati making. Inhabitants of Boleshwar villiage of Kaliganj are mainly associated with pati making cottage industry. Duration of the present study was from October 2016 to January 2017. All the information for the study was collected by preparing interview schedule with structured and semi- structured questionnaire. Randomly forty artisans from the study area were personally interviewed to obtain information on Murta plant as a raw material of different types of Pati. Individual contacts were made and questions were asked about pati making process, source of raw materials, and their socioeconomic condition. By means of informal interviews and interaction with male and female artisan related information were also gathered. Description of the different types of pati they make were gathered and recorded.
3. RESULTS ANDDISCUSSION
Table1. List of different types of pati made from cane in the study area and their description
Sl. No. Name Description
1. Shital Pati, Very thin cane strips are used in preparing shital pati. The market value of shital pati is highest. The price of each shital pati is approximately Rs. 3000-6000.
International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 142 IRJMST Vol 8 Issue 12 [Year 2017] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367(Print)
2. Rongil Pati In rongil pati, synthetic colours are used for decoration. Its market value is very low. The price of each rongil pati is approximately Rs. 400-1000.
3. Lal Pati Thick canes are used for the preparation of lal pati. The price of each lal pati is approximately Rs. 700-1500.
4. Adhi (Prayer mats) Adhi is one type of prayer mat usually used by muslim people during namaz.
5. Basket A basket is a container which is traditionally constructed from stiff fibres, which is made from canes. Baskets are used for carrying goods.
A B
C D
E
Photographs: A. Schumannianthus dichotomus (Murta Plant), B. Bundle of stems of murta plant, C. Strips of murta are kept for sun drying, D. Woman artisian busy in pati making, E. Woman with a complete Shital pati.
Schumannianthus dichotomus locally known as Murta plant (Table1). Stem is erect, glossy, green, leafy, dichotomously branched. Height is 3-3.5m and diameter is 20 mm. Plants can be vegetatively propapgated through rhizomes and branch cuttings[5]. Time required to attain harvestable size is 1.5 to 2 years.Plantation is done during May-June and harvesting is done during February-March. It grows on marshy and water logged
International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 143 IRJMST Vol 8 Issue 12 [Year 2017] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367(Print) areas.Table 1 gives idea about different types of pati made from Murta plant with their description. A total of five types of pati were observed in the study area during survey of which the market value of shital pati is highest. Different types of pati with variable sizes are available in the market.
The Patikars of Kaliganj generally do not make designs on their Sital Pati. Whereas during interaction with them they said they are able to do the designs on Pati, but it takes more time. Rate of Sital Pati is comparatively low in Barak Valley but in other places, like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and in other metros, people have to purchase this kind of Sital Pati at higher rates [4]. Nearly 200-300 Murtas are needed for a single Pati. These Patikars are very hardworking people and have the ability to carve a niche in the world of visual Arts & Crafts. But isolation of southern Assam due to the worst road condition is a hindrance in flourishing of this important cottage industry. Again due to modernization, sufficient cooling items are available in the urban market and for this the sale of cool mat is facing a setback in urban areas. But, rural people still favour these natural items in summer. For Patimakers summer is the best season for sale. Basic utility of Sital Pati is cooling. But, in nowadays the people are also using this Pati for pandal making on different occasions, for instance Durga Puja, Kali Puja, Saraswati Puja, marriages etc. and as well as other purposes, viz., for mobile covers, money bags, file covers, belts, hats, shoes and lots of other products which are preferable in modern days. Rate wise also these products are affordable.
4. CONCLUSION
The study revealed that poor villagers of Boleshwar prepare mats of different designs. Present study also revealed that the poor economic condition is a big hurdle for Pati industry they are involved in. Poor mat makers have very less per capita land area for cultivation. Agricultural is production is not sufficient. Moreover, the area is flood affected and cultivable land of this area remains under water for six months and as a result they don’t have any alternative livelihood option except pati making especially during rainy season. Although Kaliganj is famous for Shital Pati but due to various reasons viz., lack of capital, backwardness of the area etc. this cottage industry is not getting its due weightage.Real artisans of the study area are generally deprived of actual benefits because of its primitive style of production process though the products are heavily demandable in the market. The main raw materials for the industry, i.e. Murta cane are abundantly available. It requires little or no investment and can be pursued by anybody and everybody of a household as a subsidiary occupation. The mat makers can also procure raw material from the different villages of nearby areas. To improve the socio-economic condition of people of the study area especially people belonging to Patiara community Sital Pati should be commercialized and for this special emphasis has to be given on this cottage industry. The skills of present artisan need to be technologically up-graded. By improving both production and marketization process socioeconomic condition of the villagers can be uplifted. Sital Pati has also great demand as export item. By setting up of sale outlet in the different export potential locations of the country export of this item can be increased. Governments should also try to popularize these artistic cane products which carry the tradition of this region. As cottage industry is a labor-intensive sector, this could generate lot of employment in the rural areas. In this way Murta plant, anon-wood forest product can play an important role in overcoming poverty and vulnerability arising out of agricultural uncertainity and backwardness of the region and become a sustainable source of rural income for the people of this region of India.
5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors are thankful to the all the respondent artisans who have contributed to the information related to the study and allowed to take the photographs.
6. REFERENCES 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schumannianthus_dichotomus [Jun 10, 2017]. 2. "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families".Available:http://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=263609[Nov 15, 2017].
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3. Hossain, Ashfaq. 2012. "Sylhet District". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. [Nov 15, 2017]. 4. . P.P. Nath, “Sital Pati and its visual aspects”. 2011. Available: http://artanddeal.in/cms/wp content/uploads/2011/09/issue-41.pdf. [Jul 20, 2017]. 5. R. Ahmed, A. N. M. Fakhrul Islam, M. Rahman, and Md. A. Halim, 2007. "Management and economic value of Schumannianthus dichotoma in rural homesteads in the Sylhet region of Bangladesh". International Journal of Biodiversity Science & Management. 3 (4):252–258 [Oct 27, 2017]. doi:10.1080/17451590709618178.
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