Author: Maria Nifa Fernandes
Surangi/Surgam flowers of Goa
(Botanical name: Mammea suriga)
"Surgam" is one of the seasonal flowers that bloom in Goa during the months of April and May. Goan women adorn their heads with the fragrant Surgam "fantti" (braid). However, these flowers are now facing a bleak future due to deforestation and hill cutting. Nowadays, Goan people yearn to see these flowers and wear them on their heads, but finding these trees has become difficult and as a result the flowers have also become expensive.
In Goa, the tribal community is mostly involved in selling Surgam braids in Panjim and other parts of the state. As I was going around in my village- Chimbel, in search of a mango plucker, I encountered several ladies sitting around and cleaning a pile of dry flowers. I became curious and wanted to know what they were doing. One of the ladies, named Megha Naik, turned out to be the most interesting person to talk to. She explained in detail that these were dry Surgam flowers which they collected, cleaned, and sent to Belgaum to be used for making Agarbattis. Megha informed me that she had leased out 15 Surgam trees in Chimbel for Rs. 10,000.
They packed these dry Surgam flowers in 50 kg bags, priced at Rs. 100 per kilogram, and sent them to an Agarbatti manufacturing company in Belgaum. There, the Surgam flowers were powdered, mixed with dried cow dung and other ingredients, and made into agarbattis. The factory also manufactured agarbattis using other dry flowers such as mogra and jasmine.
This presents a great opportunity for job and income generation, as well as the utilization of natural flowers for agarbattis. The same approach could be adopted in Goa as well"
P.S.
While fresh Suranga flowers are used for fattim, the ones which are higher up on the tree and aren't accessible fall off and are collected to be sent for making agarbattis. What can we do as a community to support these women entrepreneurs. Share with us your thoughts.
Team ComePostVille