Khunti Munda Lac Cultivation Palas Forest

Khunti district's Munda tribal community, in the original lac cultivation heartland of Jharkhand, practices lac rearing on palas and ber host trees growing in their khuntkatti ancestral land plots. The Khunti lac cooperative provides broodlac to member farmers and procures harvested kusmi and rangeeni lac at government support prices, reducing dependence on exploitative private lac traders who previously bought at one-quarter of market value. Khunti's Munda lac farmers harvest two rearing seasons per year — June-October (Baisakh rearing) and November-February (Katki rearing) — and the income from lac has sustained Munda households through forest land area reductions caused by mining and infrastructure projects.