Comparison of Gum Tapping Techniques for Gum Karaya - A Gum of Commercial Importance

Nine trees of Sterculia urens were selected for experimentation. Out of nine trees, three were used for gum tapping through semicircular blazing and remaining six trees were tapped through gum inducer technique. After one month, each blaze and hole made on the trees were again treated following same technique/method for gum collection. Treatment was done eleven times at an interval of one month during the period of experiment. To know the effect of treatment and treatment interval on gum yield, collection of gum was carried out from each tree separately at monthly interval just before beginning of subsequent treatment operation. Higher diameter tree yielded more gum in both the techniques of gum tapping, however, gum yield was maximum in case of gum inducer technique. The gum inducer technology was found suitable for karaya gum tapping from Sterculia urens trees in Jharkhand region with less harm (17 times by volume) on the trees and more gum production (about 200%) in comparison to semi circular blazing technique of gum tapping.