Its about scientific method of lac insect cultivation and its value added products and their commercialization

1. WELCOME

2. Recent advances in lac cultivation and its
commercialization
H S Gadad
PGS13AGR5965
Doctoral seminar-II

3. 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

4. Introduction

5. 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 18,80
8
20,190 17,030 22,069 19,510 16,048 15,685
IINGR 2011

6. Strains of lac insect and lac crops
Paul et al., 2013

7. Crop wise contribution to lac Production
Crop Per cent contribution
Katki 33.39%
Baisakhi 27.35%
Jethwhi 19.50%
Aghani 19.42%
Chattopadhyay, 2011

8. Lac insect cultivation practices
Conventional method
Advanced method

9. Conventional method of lac cultivation

10. Disadvantages of conventional method of lac
cultivation
 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

11. 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

12. 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).

13. Palas Kusam Ber

14. • 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)

15. 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
intercrops
Kumar et al., 1997

16. Effect of treatments on per cent lac encrustation and stick yield
Singh and Singh, 2014

17. Effect of treatments on stick yield

18. ICFRE Newsletter, 2012
Demonstration of lac cultivation on Flemingia

19. 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

20. 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.

21. Pruning time

22. 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

23. 2. Artificial infection
• Artificial infection takes places through the agencies
other than those of nature
• Prior to about two weeks of hatching, lac bearing
sticks are cut to the size of six inches called “Brood
lac”
• Brood lacs are then kept for about two weeks in some
cool place, when the larvae start emerging from this
brood lac, they are supposed to be ready for
inoculation

24. Methods of artificial inoculation
Pujari, 2010

25. Inoculation period in different lac crops

26. Coupe system
• The coupe system has to be followed to ensure
sustained yield of the lac
• If the same tree is continuously inoculated, its vitality
suffers and the yield of crop progressively diminishes
• In Rangeeni farms, two coupe system with equal
number 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

27. Use of new stocks of lac insects
• In India, the lac insects are distributed throughout
the length and breadth of the country but in small
isolated patches in different geographic locations
• There is lot of potential is there to evaluate and
exploit these stocks for commercial lac cultivation
in order to increase the lac production

28. Lac insect lines used in the ISSR analysis
Saha et al., 2011

29. Evaluation of lac insect stocks
IINRG Annual Report 2013-14
Male sex ratio and fecundity during summer (baisakhi) crop 2012-13

30. 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

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

32. 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

33. Parasites

34. Predators

35. Management practices
Preventive measures
o Parasite and predator free brood lac should be used for
inoculation
o Self inoculation of lac crops should be avoided as far as
possible
o Inoculated brood bundles should be kept on the host tree
for 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 (after
use as brood lac) not required for brood purpose should
be scraped off
o Cultivation of Kusmi strain of lac should be avoided in
predominantly rangeeni area and vice versa.

36. Mechanical control
o Use of 60 mesh synthetic netting
(brood bag) to enclose brood lac for
inoculation purposes can reduce
infestation of enemy insects of lac.
o The emerging lac larvae easily crawl
out from the minute pores of the net
and settle on the twigs of the lac host
plants, whereas the emerging adult
predator enemies can not move out of
the brood bags and get entrapped
within the net.
o This can check the egg laying by the
predator moths on the new crop.

37. 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

38. 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

39. 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

40. Influence of cultivation methods on Weight (mg/cell) of resin produced
by female of Kerria lacca (Kerr)
Mohanta et al., 2012

41. 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

42. 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

43. 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

44. 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

45. 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

46. •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

47. 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.

48. Mechanized Heat Processing of lac

49. 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

50. Mechanized Heat Process
Solvent Processes

51. Commercialization
• Versatile properties of lack resin, it finds innumerable
uses in different industries
• From the standpoint of industrial uses of shellac, one or
more of the following properties are of great importance
1. Shellac dissolves in a wide variety of Alkaline or
rapidly drying solvent
2. It films show excellent adhesion to a wide variety of
surfaces, possessing high gloss, hardness and strength.
3. Shellac is a powerful bonding material with low
thermal conductivity and a low co-efficient to
expansion
4. It is resistant to the action of ultra violet rays
5. Shellac is non-poisonous

52. 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

53. 3. Shell lac
• It is utilized in preparation of
gramophone records
• Jewelers and goldsmiths use lac as a
filling material in the hollows in
ornaments.
• Printing inks: As binder for flexographic
printing inks for non-toxic printing of
food packaging
• Wood treatment: Primers, polishes, matt
finishes
• Textiles: As stiffeners
• Electrical: Insulation, capping,
lamination
• Leather: Seasoning, Leather care
products

54. 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

55. 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

56. Lac processing centers in India
Pal et al., 2008

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

58. Constraints in lac cultivation and production
• Production constraints
• Marketing constraints
• Processing constraints
Pal et al., 2008

59. 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.

60. 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

61. 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

62. Conclusion

63. THANK YOU