WELCOME

Recent advances in lac cultivation and its commercialization

H S Gadad

PGS13AGR5965

Doctoral seminar-II

Outline

• Introduction

• Lac production in India

• Strains of lac insect and lac crops

• Lac insect cultivation practices

• Harvesting and processing of lac

• Commercialization of lac products

• Conclusion

Introduction

Lac production in India

State Year wise production

2004-05

2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11

Jharkhand 9.860 10,780 6,414 7,490 6,385 4,100 6,925

Chattisgarh 5,140 4,270 6,015 8,875 7,160 7,198 4,995

MP 1,905 2,870 2,515 3,164 3,755 2,970 2,390

Maharashtra 633 875 1,160 1,300 1,070 1,150 520

West Bengaal

1,270 1,395 926 1,240 1,140 830 855

Total 18,808

20,190 17,030 22,069 19,510 16,048 15,685

IINGR 2011

Strains of lac insect and lac crops

Paul et al., 2013

Crop wise contribution to lac Production

Crop Per cent contribution

Katki 33.39%

Baisakhi 27.35%

Jethwhi 19.50%

Aghani 19.42%

Chattopadhyay, 2011

Lac insect cultivation practices

Conventional method

Advanced method

Conventional method of lac cultivation

Disadvantages of conventional method of laccultivation

The same host plants are continuously exploited without

giving rest for recoupment

Only natural inoculation occurs

Partial harvest is done leaving few branches untouched

for auto inoculation of next crop and no pruning is done

Advanced method of lac cultivation

• Cultivation of suitable new host plants

• Pruning of trees

• Use of new stocks and breeds of lac insects

• Infestation of host tree/ inoculation

• Coupe system of lac cultivation

• Management of enemies of lac insect

Cultivation of suitable host plants

• The lac insects thrive on the sap of certain plants called

lac hosts

• So far, over four hundred species of plants have been

recorded as hosts of lac insect which those are of

importance from the commercial point of view are

Palas (Butea monosperma),

Kusum (Schleichera oleosa),

Ber (Zizyphus mauritiana).

Palas Kusam Ber

• Other minor important lac host plants are

Khair (Acacia catechu)

Ghont (Zizyphus zylopyra)

Barh (Ficus bengalensis)

Peepal (Ficus religiosa)

Arhar (Cajanus cajan)

Galwang (Albizia lucida)

Lac cultivation on Flemingia semialata

• It is fast growing with high cropping response, bushy in

nature and known for producing best quality of lac resin, this

species can be promoted for intensive lac cultivation on

plantation basis

• Lac cultivation on Flemingia is very easy and cost effective

compared with others due to its simple method of

propagation, the waiting period of just one year, easy

manageability and high rate of lac production

• Flemingia semialata is also performs well along with

intercropsKumar et al., 1997

Effect of treatments on per cent lac encrustation and stick yield

Singh and Singh, 2014

Effect of treatments on stick yield

ICFRE Newsletter, 2012

Demonstration of lac cultivation on Flemingia

Pruning Operation

• Improvised scientific method of pruning which is done in

the brood lac farms is as follows

o Pruning is done lightly, because light pruning avoids

stunted growth and allows gradual increase in the frame

of the tree

o Branches more than 2.5 cm in diameter (more than

thickness of one’s thumb) are not cut

o Branches between 1.25 cm to 2.5 cm in diameter are cut,

so as to leave behind a stalk of about 30-45 cm in length

o Dead and diseased branches are removed, split or broken

branches are cut below the split

Types of pruning in lac host plants

1. Apical/ light pruning

• Light pruning is recommended for slow growing

conventional tree host species like palas, kusum and ber.

• Branches less than 2.5 cm diameter should be cut from base

and branches more that 2.5 cm diameter should be sharply

cut leaving a stump of 30-45 cm from the base

• Diseased and dead portion of branches should be removed

completely

2. Basal/heavy pruning

• In quick growing bushy host, pruning should be done at a

height of 10-15 cm from the ground level e.g. Flemingia

macrophylla, F. semialata.

Pruning time

Inoculation of host trees

• The method by which the lac insects are introduced to

the new lac host plant is known as inoculation

1. Natural inoculation: When infection from one plant

to other occurs by natural movements of insect, it is

called natural inoculation

• This may be due to overcrowding of insect population

and non availability of tender shoots on a particular

tree

2. Artificial infection

• Artificial infection takes places through the agenciesother than those of nature

• Prior to about two weeks of hatching, lac bearingsticks are cut to the size of six inches called “Broodlac”

• Brood lacs are then kept for about two weeks in somecool place, when the larvae start emerging from thisbrood lac, they are supposed to be ready forinoculation

Methods of artificial inoculation

Pujari, 2010

Inoculation period in different lac crops

Coupe system

• The coupe system has to be followed to ensuresustained yield of the lac

• If the same tree is continuously inoculated, its vitalitysuffers and the yield of crop progressively diminishes

• In Rangeeni farms, two coupe system with equalnumber of palas trees in two coupes having six (6)months rest is adopted for raising Baisakhi-cum-Katki crops in alternate seasons

• In the Kusumi farms, Five coupe system with equal number of trees in each coupe having 18 months rest in between pruning and inoculation should be adopted

Chattopadhyay, 2011

Use of new stocks of lac insects

• In India, the lac insects are distributed throughoutthe length and breadth of the country but in smallisolated patches in different geographic locations

• There is lot of potential is there to evaluate andexploit these stocks for commercial lac cultivationin order to increase the lac production

Lac insect lines used in the ISSR analysis

Saha et al., 2011

Evaluation of lac insect stocks

IINRG Annual Report 2013-14

Male sex ratio and fecundity during summer (baisakhi) crop 2012-13

cell weight,resin weight and Fecundity,

Cell and resin weight during summer (baisakhi) crop 2012-13

Cell and resin weight during rainy season (katki) crop 2013

Male sex ratio and fecundity during rainy season (katki) crop 2013

Management of enemies of lac insects

• It has been estimated that on an average, up to 30-

40% of the lac cells are destroyed by insect enemies

of lac crop

• Under severe epidemics even complete crop failures

are observed

• These are two kinds of enemy insects

(1) Parasites

(II) Predators

Parasites

Predators

Management practices

Preventive measures

o Parasite and predator free brood lac should be used forinoculation

o Self inoculation of lac crops should be avoided as far aspossible

o Inoculated brood bundles should be kept on the host treefor a minimum period only.

o Phunki should be removed from the inoculated trees in 2– 3 weeks time.

o All lac cut from the tree and all phunki brood lac (afteruse as brood lac) not required for brood purpose shouldbe scraped off

o Cultivation of Kusmi strain of lac should be avoided inpredominantly rangeeni area and vice versa.

Mechanical control

o Use of 60 mesh synthetic netting(brood bag) to enclose brood lac forinoculation purposes can reduceinfestation of enemy insects of lac.

o The emerging lac larvae easily crawlout from the minute pores of the netand settle on the twigs of the lac hostplants, whereas the emerging adultpredator enemies can not move out ofthe brood bags and get entrappedwithin the net.

o This can check the egg laying by thepredator moths on the new crop.

Biological control

• Egg parasitoids viz. Trichogramma achaeae,T. exiguum

and T. ostrniae, are able to supress the Eublemma

amabilis

• The reduction in the population of E. amabilis up to

77-86 per cent in on case of rangeeni crop and up to

52-72 per cent in kusam crop at the dose of 20 egg

parasitoid per bush

Battacharya et al.,

2014

Chemical management

• Lambdacyhalothrin, Ethofenprox, DDVP,

carbosulfan, indoxacarb, spinosad, fipronil,

alphamethrin and ethofenprox shall be incorporated

in IPM programs for the effective management of

predators of lac insect without adversely affecting the

lac insect

Tech. Bull FBTI 2011

E amabilis P pulverea

Insecticide Conc(%)

No/m encrustation No/m encrustation

Single spray

Two sprays

Three sprays

Single spray

Two sprays

Three sprays

Bt 0.034 26 15 11.5 31 19 15

0.051 26.5 13 6.5 26 11.5 8.0

0.068 26 9.0 6.5 27.5 9.0 8.0

0.085 27 13 6.5 24 10 8.5

Endosulfan 0.050 25.5 10 7.5 25.5 12 8.0

Ethofenprox 0.020 29 11 7.5 27 11.5 8.5

DDVP 0.030 27 12.5 6.5 26 12 7.5

Control Water 29 29 29 31 31 31

Jaiswal et al., 2008

Evaluation of Bacillus thuringiensis against lepidopteran pests in lac culture

Influence of cultivation methods on Weight (mg/cell) of resin produced

by female of Kerria lacca (Kerr)

Mohanta et al., 2012

Harvesting

• Ari Lac: If lac crops are harvested by cutting down

the lac bearing twigs a little before the larval

emergence ( immature lac )

• Phunki Lac: After the emergence is over, that is

called Phunki Lac ( empty lac )

• This operation is done after the appearance of yellow

spot which appears as a spot about a week prior to

emergence of lac larvae

Time of harvesting

The harvesting periods of different crops are different

• Katki crop is harvested in Oct. /Nov

• Baisakhi, in May/June

• Aghani in Jan/Feb

• Jethwi, in June/July

Lac processing• Sticklac is converted to commercial grades of seedlac

• The yield of refined lac from seedlac varies between 40% to 60%

• Seedlac is then converted to shellac of various grades

Lemon one shellac

Lemon tow shellac

Standard one shellac

Superior shellac

Superior kusumi lemon

Kusumi button lac

Superior kusumi button lac

Light pure button lac

Pure one button lac

Methods of lac processing

• Seedlac is often the base material which is further

processed

• The processing results into a finished product which

is known as Shellac

1. Hand made Process

2. Mechanized Heat Process

3. Solvent Processes

Hand made Process

• Traditionally the seed lac is processed by hand made

process

• The seed lac is filled into a long sausage shaped cloth

bag of about 2 inch diameter and 30 feet long

• The cloth bag is filled with approximately 40 Kgs of

Seed lac

• The long bag made up of markin cloth is passed

gradually in front of a charcoal-fired hearth hot enough

to melt the lac. By twisting the bag, molten lac is

•Due to hot melting and squeezing, lac resin is forced

out through the pores of the bag; leaving behind

impurities such as insect bodies or twigs

•The residue left inside cloth bag is another variety of

refuse Lac known as Kirilac

Mechanized Heat Process

• In this process of manufacturing of shellac, the seed

lac is melted by steam heat

• The molten soft lac is squeezed through filter by

means of hydraulic pressure

• The filtered molten lac is drawn into long and

continuous sheets with help of roller

• The sheet is then broken into pieces called flakes.

Mechanized Heat Processing of lac

Solvent Processes

• Solvent process is used to purify the semi refined lac,

dewaxed and decolorized shellac can be obtained as

end product

•

• Seed lac is dissolved in a refrigerated alcohol and

filter through filter press to remove wax and

impurities

• The colour may be removed to any required standard

by treating with the activated carbon

• The molten shellac is stretched with a roller

Mechanized Heat Process

Solvent Processes

Commercialization

• Versatile properties of lack resin, it finds innumerableuses in different industries

• From the standpoint of industrial uses of shellac, one ormore of the following properties are of great importance

1. Shellac dissolves in a wide variety of Alkaline orrapidly drying solvent

2. It films show excellent adhesion to a wide variety ofsurfaces, possessing high gloss, hardness and strength.

3. Shellac is a powerful bonding material with lowthermal conductivity and a low co-efficient toexpansion

4. It is resistant to the action of ultra violet rays

5. Shellac is non-poisonous

Lac products and their commercial importance

1. Lac dye: It is traditionally used to color wool

and silk

2. Lac wax

• Polishes applied on shoes, floor, automobiles

etc.

• Food and confectionary, and drug tablet

finishing

• lipsticks

• Crayons

3. Shell lac

• It is utilized in preparation ofgramophone records

• Jewelers and goldsmiths use lac as afilling material in the hollows inornaments.

• Printing inks: As binder for flexographicprinting inks for non-toxic printing offood packaging

• Wood treatment: Primers, polishes, mattfinishes

• Textiles: As stiffeners

• Electrical: Insulation, capping,lamination

• Leather: Seasoning, Leather careproducts

4. Bleached shellac: Bleached shellac is non-toxic and

physiologically harmless

• Coating of fruits and vegetables

• Coating in tablets & capsules

• Coating in confectionary

• Coating in aluminium foil, paper

5. Aleuritic Acid

• Aleuritic acid, or α-aleuritic acid, is a

major ingredient in shellac, constituting

about 35% of it

• Aleuritic Acid obtained from shellac by

saponification

• due to it being an excellent starting

material for the synthesis of civetone,

ambrettolide, and isoambrettolide which

have the musk like odour used for

manufacturing of perfumes

• It is very much in demand with perfume

manufacturing companies in France,

Italy, Germany, USA

Lac processing centers in India

Pal et al., 2008

Average amount of sticklac processed in India during 2005-06 & 2006-07

Constraints in lac cultivation and production

• Production constraints

• Marketing constraints

• Processing constraints

Pal et al., 2008

Production constraints

• Shortage of funds for purchase of inputs and high cost

of broodlac

• Lack of scientific knowledge on lac cultivation

• Shortage of broodlac

• Insect mortality due to environmental factors

• Lack of season specific host (owning only one species

of host)

• Distance of host plant from home and scattered host

plants.

Marketing constraints

• Lack of uniform policy regarding inter and intra state

movement of produce

• Non-availability of improved inputs in local markets

• Lack of grading facility in the market

• Long distance of market

• No systematic channel for broodlac marketing

Processing constraints

•Non-availability of skilled laborers especially during

agricultural season

•Irregular supply of electricity and high electric

charges for mechanized units

•Price fluctuation of raw material and finished

products

•Limited customers for marketing of finished products

•Difficulty in sanction of bank loans and lack of

subsidy to lac manufacturer

Conclusion

THANK YOU