ARECA PALM LEAF CRAFT
Areca nut, more commonly known as betel nut, is the seed of
1. Woman wearing an areaa palm sheath cap.
the betel palm (Areca catechu), a species of palm which grows
2. Areca palm sheath cap worn by a farmer.
throughout the Pacific, Asia and parts of east Africa. Betel or
paan chewing has been a part of the eating culture of India. The
nut is slivered or grated, often flavored with spices according to Caps made out of dry areca palm sheath.
local tradition, and in India it is usually wrapped in a betel leaf
which comes from the betel pepper plant (Piper betle), which is
not botanically related to th betel palm. Betel palm is grown in
the Western Ghats region of Karnataka. The dry layers of
sheath are harvested. These are wetted and press moulded to
make caps, plates and cups. The caps are used by the local
farming community. The plates and cups are used to serve food
as the leaf is biodegradable and is an alternative to paper or
plastic.
Production Clusters
Dakshina Kannada
district:
Mangalore
Uttara Kannada
district:
Hasanagi:
Honkankere
Products
Caps
Plates
Cups
Tools
Press - to mould
MOODA - RICE PACKAGING
Paddy cultivation is one of the major occupations of Dakshina Kannada
district. Local ingenuity has led to and unusual packaging, called mooda,
for storage and transportation of paddy with only rice straw. The grain is
bundled within layers of twisted rice straw drawn to form ropes coiled in
such a way that the beginning and end of the rope are not visible. The
spherical container prevents attacks from rats due to the great thickness
of the straw wall and it is tamper proof siince
it can only be opened by cutting through the layers
with a sharp knife. Being spherical, it contains a
specific quantity using minimum external material
and can be easily rolled. It is an outstanding
example of using resources in a sustainable manner.
Such unselfconscious innovations, being a response
to local conditions, are rarely celebrated as craft
although having evolved it to a high degree of
function and performance. Similar solutions exist
for packaging rice in Orissa.
Production Clusters
Dakshina Kannada
district:
Mangalore
Udipi district:
Kundapura
Products
Mooda - rice
packaging
Tools
Koithi - sickle
Top and side views of the
mooda packaging for
paddy, that uses rice
straw to form a sealed
spherical container.
Eucalyptus leaves are
packaged in creeper
stems, woven in an open
hexagonal weave to form
a spherical packaging.