Ulladan community learns new marketing strategy

KOCHI: Gathering medicinal herbs has been the traditional job of the Ulladan community in Kerala, which is rich in knowledge of plants that have medicinal value. However, the knowledge today is slowly dying out and is feared to go extinct once the generation over the age of 60 lives out their lives. Taking this into consideration, the Commerce Department of Al Ameen College at Edathala at Kalamassery is providing the community members with a strong marketing strategy to protect their skill.

Ayyappan, a 62-year-old part-time medicinal herb picker, is one of the beneficiaries of the project. "I have been picking medicinal herbs since the time I began recognising plants," he said. According to him, all his family members used to engage in the work. "My parents, sisters, aunts and uncles used to go to the surrounding forests twice a week. Since the forests were dense and plants were available in plenty, we didn't have to go to distant places in search of the herbs listed by Ayurvedic practitioners," he said. 

According to him, the members of the community, however, were not acquainted with the medicinal properties of the plants. "We could identify them and knew where to look for them. This made us indispensable to the vaidyans. The doctors provide us with a list and the date on which the herbs have to be delivered. We collect the herbs and sell them to the practitioners at a fixed price," he said. However, they often never received their exact due.

According to Sasidharan M P, principal of Al Ameen College, lack of monetary benefits and disappearing forest cover is turning the community away from their traditional job. "They need the right price and avenue to sell the product. The youngsters in the community aren't finding the job lucrative and are hence moving away to cities to find better prospects," he said. 

And traditional knowledge needs to be protected and promoted. 
"As part of the ISR initiative, the Department of Commerce came up with the idea to start a hub on the campus. The hub promotes the products offered by the community by connecting them to the right buyers. There is a huge demand for medicinal herbs and the companies making Ayurvedic products are constantly in search for suppliers," he said. 

According to the principal, the mentors at the hub negotiate the price on behalf of the community. "We will continue to do so for a year; after that, the community will take over and do business by themselves. The aim is to provide them with the know-how and training in doing business," he said.