OFFTRACK: DEHRADUN, UTTARANCHAL

A dreaded weed perks up the depressed economy of a hill village

It is the mother of all battles-the struggle to rid a place of weeds. They look harmless, even pretty, but pack a defence that would do a military man proud. Weeds like the water hyacinth, the lantana and parthenium have driven developers to despair with their resilience. Now a small village up in the hills of Uttaranchal seems to have come to terms with this herbal angst: if you can't get rid of them, use them. And the battle is on-don't allow the weed to dominate life, humble it by reducing it to dustbins and footstools, chicken coops and baskets.

Considered among the 10 worst weeds in the world, Lantana camara seemed to have overrun Lachhiwala village, 24 km from state capital Dehradun, as it has vast areas across the country. Introduced as a hedge by the British in India in 1941, lantana today occupies almost one lakh hectares of land. Once it takes root, the weed with the small pink, white and yellow flowers is impossible to eradicate. It resists manual destruction; biological and chemical methods don't work, and in any case represent an environmental risk considering the spread of the plant. The shrub proliferates so rapidly that in some regions whole villages have had to be shifted after its invasion. The toxic effects of lantana also prevent the growth of other plants. Lantana-affected areas in India are found in the Deccan, the Nilgiris, Uttar Pradesh, the Shivalik range, the Western Ghats, Bihar, Chhotanagpur and the North-east.

Lantana's reputation did not daunt the villagers of Lachhiwala. Making wide use of the wild lantana, they have given it an economic value previously unimaginable. They use lantana and mud to make the walls of their houses as well as chicken coops. Stripped of the bark, the insect- and pest-resistant lantana stems are put to varied use-the sturdier ones make good furniture, the pliant are fashioned into trays and baskets. A sofa set made of lantana sells for Rs 1,500-less than half the price of one made of cane. The pungent lantana leaves make excellent mosquito repellents and incense sticks. Such innovative use of the weed brings in Rs 75,000 a year for each of the families there. And it has earned the village a new name: Lantana village.

A lot of the credit for the success of this experiment goes to the scientists of the Dehradun-based NGO Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organisation (HESCO) which provides logistic and marketing support to the villagers. "The best way to eradicate a weed is to make use of it," says HESCO Director Dr A.P. Joshi. The NGO also trains villagers in using other weeds like Parthenium hysterophorus, Rumex sp and Euphorbia royleana as compost layers in the cultivation of oyster mushrooms. Using 100 bags of weeds as the substratum, villagers harvest up to 100 kg of mushroom that brings in around Rs 5,000. "We used to earn our livelihood by working as daily-wage labourers or by selling firewood collected from the forest. HESCO has changed our life," says Ram Bahadur of Lantana village.

The success with lantana has helped open a new front against other troublesome plants. The root of the lantana can be powered and used in dental infections; leaves of another weed, Eupatorium platyphylla, are used as an animal antiseptic; extracts from the roots of Berberis asiatica work as anti-viral eye-drops; and Achyranthes aspera can be used to cure hydrophobia. All these promise economic benefits to the industry-deficient state. HESCO scientists have found a simple way to root out parthenium too. This dreaded weed causes asthma and various skin diseases on contact and is, therefore, difficult and painful to eradicate. HESCO has found that the allergen is the pollen grain. Hence, if eradication work begins before the weed flowers, the pain can be avoided.

People in Uttaranchal are being taught to exploit the hill state's natural resources-from pickle-making and juice-processing to herbal medicines. Some villagers have learned to prepare and sell a squash made from rhododendron flowers. Experiments like that of Lantana village show innovation can perk up a weak economy. What they also show is that never-say-die pests can actually become a source of livelihood.