Bhubaneswar: IGSSS organized two days Regional Consultation on livelihood options and value chain of Non Timber Forest Produces and organic farming in Bhubaneswar on 21st and 22nd December. In this Regional Consultation, the experts like K C Sahu, Dr. Mihir Jena, Anuragh Sarmah, Deepak Mishra, Krishna Rao, Chitta Jena, Bharat Bhusan Thakur, Satya Pattnaik, Sita Devi, Bikash Rath and participants from Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh shared their valuable experiences and suggested the recommendation for the future course of joint action.
At the outset of the event, Mr. K C Sahu, Head Livelihood, IGSSS, New Delhi had welcomed and explained that Non Timber Forest Produces contribute 10-30% of the total income and 10-20 % of the food for the tribals residing in the Central and Eastern parts of India and we need to work on regeneration and sustainable production and harvesting of the NTFP.
The major concerns were raised that the farmers and primary collectors are not getting the fair price for forest based produces like Amla, Harda, Bahada, Mahua, Tamarind, Siali, Saal, Tendu and such others. Mr. Krishna Rao from Kovel Foundation shared his experience of Andhra Pradesh on Tribal Inistitunal development, skill development and knowledge centre. Deepak Mishra from Baitarani Initiative highlighted the collection and value chain of meditational plants. Anurag Sarmah from Odisha Livelihood Mission highlighted the efforts on Tassar rearing and cultivation Tulsi and producers groups as primary aggregators. Similarly, the experts of organic farming Ekadashi Nandi and Prasanta Mohanty remarked that the healthy life is determined by healthy soil. Thus, this generation has to produce in an organic manner by avoiding pesticides and harmful chemicals. Also an exhibition on forest based produces was done in the premise. The conference came up with a policy recommendation which will be shared with the respective state governments in Tribal regions of India.
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