Prasad, N., Jaiswal, A.K., & Kumar, K.K. 2004 Energy requirement in lac production.. AMA, Agricultural Mechanization in Asia, Africa and Latin America 35(1): 54-58.

Notes: Lac is a natural resin secretion and protective covering of tiny lac insects Kerria lacca which is produced mainly in India, Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar and China. Butea monosperma (palas), Zizyphus mauritiana [Ziziphus mauritiana] (ber) and Schleichera oleosa (kusum) are the major commercial lac host trees in India. Mostly it is the tribals in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Gujarat and Assam that undertake the production. Approximately three million people are engaged in the production of lac in India. On an average, India produces 18 thousand tonnes of lac per year. It is an export-oriented product. Some 80% of the country's total production is exported that earns approximately 16-22 million US dollars as foreign exchange annually. Lac production involves a very simple operation that does not require any skill and requires less time than other agricultural operations. The pruning of host trees, bundling of broodlac twigs, tying of broodlac on trees for infestation, removal of used up broodlac sticks (phunki) from trees, harvesting of crop and lac scraping are the basic operations in lac production. These operations are carried out manually with the help of locally available traditional tools. The energy requirements in the production of lac from palas, ber and kusum were 11.68, 3.33 and 4.71 GJ/t in the first year and 10.25, 2.94 and 4.00 GJ/t in the subsequent years. The specific energy requirements in lac production from different lac hosts are comparable with specific energy requirements in the production of paddy, maize, wheat and gram. However, the returns from per tonne of lac is several times higher than the returns from the crops cited above. Human energy only is the input used in lac production unlike crop production where, apart from human energy, animal, mechanical and electrical energies and a variety of services such as post-harvest technology are used. With a view to meeting an increased demand for lac in the global market (being a natural and an eco-friendly product) and to generate additional employment, lac production should be promoted.