Ecology, Energetics and Economics of Kewda (screwpine) Industry

The work deals with ecology, energetics and economics of kewda flower collection and distillery in the coastal Ganjam district(18° 58'' to 20°17'' N & 84° 06'' E to 85° 11'' E) Orissa, India. The screwpine (Pandanus fascicularis Lam.) plantation is either natural or artificial. The climate of the study area is monsoonal. The work was conducted at two phases-flower collection and industry. Three sites for flower collection and ten industries were considered as samples for the study. The main products of the industries are kewda attar, kewda oil and kewda wate. Traditional distillation technology is adapted for extraction of these products. Energetic (time consumed by humans and energy content of materials) and economics of inputs and outputs were estimated.