Lac Culture

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Abstract

Earlier lac was not cultivated but collected from naturally occuring infested host plants in forest are personally holdings. In the beginning of twentieth century lac host plantations were raised in plains of India to cater to the needs of growing demand of lac trade. Technology interventions in the field of lac production came into force after the establishment of Indian Lac Research Institute, Nankum, Ranchi (Jharkhand, later christened as IINRG). Researches on improvements in the processing and products development was also started by the institute and for which fundamental research work on lac chemistry, its structure and applied aspects on the use of lac in varieties of applications were undertaken. Being a versatile resin of wide utility lac is mainly used in surface coating, pharmaceuticals, varnish, adhesive, electrical, food and leather industries. In addition to these, byproducts of lac like lac dye, and lac wax are also used extensively.

Inimical biota of lac insect include predators, parasite and diseases. Predators include both vertebrate and invertebrate while parasite are all insects. Eublema amabilis, Pseudophyotapa pulvera and Chrysopa spp. are the main predators. The loss caused by the predators and parasites amounts to 35–40% annually on an average of which 6–8 present damage to the lac crop by the inimical parasites.

Points of major considerations are: (i) current and future status of the pest, (ii) economics of the pest management, and (iii) environmental sustainability of different control measures.

Keywords

Host Plant Cutaneous Gland Infested Host Plant Aleuritic Acid Anal Tubercle 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Notes

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Dr. S.K. Yadav and Sri R.K. Singh, Scientists L.P. Division, for their help in documenting and computer work in preparing the manuscript.

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© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Indian Institute of Natural Resins and GumsRanchiIndia

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