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Banking on Moonj with ODOP in sight
A dedicated ‘Moonj Bank’—a storehouse for the wild Moonj grass used for making a range of household and decorative products – is to be set up in Naini.
A dedicated ‘Moonj Bank’—a storehouse for the wild Moonj grass used for making a range of household and decorative products – is to be set up in Naini.
The Moonj bank will serve as a reliable, all-year-round store of the grass for artisans at affordable rates, said officials aware of the development.
The responsibility of setting up this unique Moonj bank has been entrusted to the National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (NIMSME), Hyderabad, which will strive to find suitable markets for the sale of Moonj products, officials said.
District industry deputy commissioner Ajay Kumar Chaurasia said that though the Moonj grows wildly in Prayagraj, especially in the Naini area, artisans struggle for raw material to keep business afloat. “The agency will procure this grass from all available sources and store it in the Moonj bank, to be set up in Naini,” he added.
Under the state government’s one district, one product (ODOP) scheme aiming to encourage indigenous and specialised products and crafts in UP, Moonj-made products have been identified for the push in Prayagraj.
Efforts are on to digitise Prayagraj’s Moonj market for global consumption. The state village industries, MSME and export promotion minister Sidharth Nath Singh has already announced the selling these products online, through marketing giants like Amazon and Alibaba.
The Naini area of Prayagraj is famous for its Moonj craft, which is mostly practised by women. Easy availability of raw material has enabled this craft to flourish in the district. Moreover, the market is flooded with a variety of products made from moonj like baskets (daliya), coasters, bags, decorative items and more. Moonj products are eco-friendly and have the potential to do well in the national as well as international markets.
Moonj and Kaasa are the types of wild grass which are abundant in growth, near the banks of the river in and around vast areas of Prayagraj.
The art of peeling and knotting has been practised for the last 60 - 70 years. The grass is cut during winter and the peel of the stalk is left out in the dew for days, to lighten its colour. Some of it is dyed in bright colours and are bound with plastic strips, tinsel or cloth, said Meena, an artisan involved in the trade. The motifs of basket-making are created by adding coloured grass in between. The Moonj products are ideal for daily life. These natural products can be used as containers, for food storage and for wall decoration among other things, she added.
