Made mostly by tribal women, the humble household broom is a designated handicraft that is bringing income and empowering many families to become financially independent and protect their forests.
For some the humble broom, the “jhadu,” makes a political statement. For others, the brain instantly sees Harry Potter and his Gryffindor teammates flying through the air on their broomstick adventures.
But in the forest villages of Odisha’s Koraput district, the modest broom isn’t about wizardry. It is a symbol of economic empowerment for simple village women of the unpretentious tribes living there.
Made of tall, perennial grass that grows abundantly in the region – and called “phool or phoolo jhadu” in native Odia as well as in Bengali and Assamese – the broomgrass supplements the income of more than 1,500 tribal families. For some, proceeds from selling brooms are their lone takings.
This non-perishable grass — biologically, Thysanolaena maxima of the family Poaceae — can reach a height of up to 2 metres and thrives in degraded, steep or marginal land. The panicles of this “tiger grass” in English and “jhadu ghaas” in Hindi are used to make brooms.
The tribes of Koraput have been making jhadus for generations, but mostly for household use, collecting the grass from the forests.
Now they are farming it with the help of government aid under the Mahatma Gandhi Nischit Karma Nijukti Yojana, a self-employment programme.
My forefathers used to harvest the grass in the jungles, but they never made money out of brooms.
Planted typically in the monsoon, the grass takes four months to grow and flower.
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“My forefathers used to harvest the grass in the jungles, but they never made money out of brooms,” said Sunamani Turuk of Kotia village.
Grass cultivation has ensured ready and easy availability of raw material and hence, a sustainable income.
Block development officer Soumya Sarthak Mishra said villagers have been encouraged to grow the broomgrass because of its ease of harvesting, simple manufacturing process and low investment requirement. The government provides fodder and fertilisers, and wages too.
“Around 800 people of Patangi block are involved in this afforestation process. Broomgrass has been planted on nearly 130 acres in the district,” Mishra said. “The plan is to cover 700 acres.”
Much like Harry Potter’s broomsticks in the Triwizard competition, the broomgrass of Koraput is flying off local markets at a rate their producers could ever imagine.
“Mother Nature has given us this grass,” said Raita Khila, thankful to the bounty that sustains her family.
Sunamani is grateful too.
“This has helped me overcome poverty. In my village, about 30 families make a living by selling jhadu. We collect the raw material from the hills. Many families bring the grass to the local market. They don’t make jhadus.”
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The villagers let the harvested grass dry out for 10 to 12 days under the autumn sun.
“Then we take a bundle, cut it to size and tie it with a plastic chord. The jhadu is done. Around 400 tonnes of jhadu grass are shipped from here to Odisha cities as well as Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra every year,” Raita said.
This has helped me overcome poverty. In my village, about 30 families make a living by selling jhadu
Traders often pay in advance, before the October harvest.
“If the government takes it directly from us, we don’t sell it to the traders,” Raita said.
The administration has come forward to help the villagers market their produce and cut the middlemen from the process.
“Koraput Agro Products Producer Company is assisting us to sell the brooms. ORMAS (Odisha Rural Development and Marketing Society) pays a woman Rs 3.5 for one jhadu. A woman makes around 50 a day, which translates to about Rs 175,” said Roshan Karthik, Koraput’s head of ORMAS.
The “phoolo jhadu” got a booster shot when the government made it a designated handicraft product of tribals of Kotia in Koraput’s Patangi block. The makers are recognised as craftspeople, thereby making them eligible for welfare schemes reserved for artisans.
It all started in 2018, when the state government picked Koraput’s brooms for a two-pronged drive—afforestation and livelihood.
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“In 2020–21, when we bought 30 metric tonnes of broomgrass from the forest-dwellers and tribals, the business was around Rs 20 lakh. This year, we purchased 50 metric tonnes and did business of Rs 40 lakh so far,” said KAPPCO official Dhoba Sirika.
Aggressive marketing has brought dividends too. Koraput grass brooms are now being sold by e-commerce platforms like Amazon. Besides, the government’s intervention has reduced the vicious cycle of middlemen cutting into the producers’ profit.
Traders used to buy the grass for Rs 25 a kg and sell it at Rs 100. In 2018, the Koraput administration established a phoolo jhadu producer group in Kotia village.
“Residents of Kotia used to collect tonnes of wild grass from the hills, but were forced to sell it on the cheap. The situation has changed. Thanks to the government’s incentives and help. We sell it to the government at Rs 50 a kg,” said Sunaram Turuk of Kotia.
Women were taught to make the broomstick with aluminium and plastic pipes, and tie the grass bundles with steel wires. These last longer and make more money – around Rs 60 apiece.
To sweep poverty clean, the grass is indeed getting greener in Koraput.
The lead image at the top shows dry grass collected for brooms from hills (Photo by Prativa Ghosh)
Prativa Ghosh is an independent journalist from Odisha.
