| Experiment code | 19.9.3.49 |
|---|---|
| Experiment Title | Marketing and Trends of Major Non Timber Forest Products in Dangs District of Gujarat |
| Research Type | Departmental Research |
| Experiment Background | Introduction Forest produce can be divided into several categories. From the point of view of usage, forest produce can be categorized into three types: Timber, Non Timber and Minor minerals. Non-timber forest produce (NTFPs) are also known as minor forest products (MFP) or non-wood forest produce (NWFP). The NTFPs include charcoal, caoutchouc, catechu, wood-oil, resin, natural varnish, bark, lac, myrobalans, mahua flowers ,trees and leaves, flowers and fruit, plants (including grass, creepers, reeds and moss), wild animals, skins, tusks, horns, bones, cocoons, silk, honey, wax, other parts or produce of animals, and also includes peat, surface soil, rocks and minerals etc. A large number of items of our everyday use such as medicines, perfumes, skin lotions, nail polish, mouthwash, hair conditioners, cheese, chewing gum, ice cream, edible nuts, breakfast cereals, soft drinks, fancy bags, decorative buttons and a host of others contain various proportions of NTFPs. With the increasing population growth, the forest resources throughout the developing countries in the tropics are under severe pressure. The situation in India is even more serious as with only 2 per cent of the world’s forests, the country has to serve about 15 per cent of the world population. While about 45 per cent of the energy in the third World is met from wood, over 85 per cent of the rural energy in India is met from biomass and about 50 per cent of it is collected from forests. Apart from 200 million tons fuel wood and 45-60 million m3 timber, forests in India provide about 50- 60 million tons of forage and a wide range of food, oilseeds, medicinal herbs and aromatics every year. A large number of plant species are under severe threat, facing extinction. With drastic reduction in the income from minor forest produce, unemployed local people are indulging in illicit felling of trees to sustain their livelihood. Therefore, promotion of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP) species, through productivity improvement and value addition is necessary to reverse this trend and to sustain the livelihood of the rural families, who have been dependent on NTFP since ages (Modi and Trivedi, 2013. The major marketing problems of NFTPs are: limited number of wholesale markets compared to the forest area, dominance of monopoly business in NTFPs, distress sells of NTFPs at lower price, long distance between the market and production area which leads to high carrying cost of collected products, lack of sufficient place to store the collected NTFPs, bad condition of road and lastly the brokers buy the products of the NTFPs (mainly medicinal) at a very low price and they do not inform the general people about the proper rate (Ahmed et al., 2016). The total forest cover of the country, as per current assessment in 2021 is 80.9 million hectares which is 24.62 per cent of total geographic area of the country. As on 31st March, 2021, the forest area of Gujarat is 21,876.45 Sq. Km. which is 11.15 % of the geographical area of the state. This forest area is spread over six territorial circles, four wildlife circles and one social forestry circle. A small forest area is also covered by Indroda Nature Park of GEER Foundation, Gandhinagar. In Gujarat, 143 plant species has cultivated in natural ecosystem. Among these, 78 species occur in forest or other forms of natural vegetation, 23 species grown as weeds, 42 species grown as cash crop for other plant based products and 22 species cultivated as medicinal crop. The tribal people have been conserving plant and crop genetic resources as well as the knowledge on their utility without expecting any return. Apart from its contribution to forest revenue, NTFP contribute significantly in rural and tribal economy as about 60 per cent of the products that are consumed locally. It has been shown that the NTFP based small scale enterprises provide up to 50 per cent of income for 20 to 30 per cent of the rural labour force in India; whereas 55 per cent of employment in the forestry sector is attributed to the NTFP sector alone. The major NTFPs in Gujarat include Timru (Diospros melanoxylon) leaves, Mahua (Madhuca indica) flowers, Kadaya (Sterculia urens) and other types of gums. Unlike south and central parts, the North Gujarat inhabits mainly dry scrub forests; this type of forest is also found in the central and western parts of the state. The major NTFPs collected from this region include Timru leaves, Salai (Boswelli aserrata) Gum, and Honey (Apis spp.). In Kachch, the Northwest part of Gujarat, the Gugal (Commiphora wightii) and Prosopis (Prosopi juliflora) gums are the major NTFPs. Some eastern parts of Gujarat and Gir forest are dominated in generating livelihood income for poor people residing nearby areas of forest. But owing to the ill functioning of integrated forest management system, unsustainable harvesting and uncontrolled removal of forest products, functioning of the forest is disturbed and thus affects the livelihood of associated indigenous population adversely. To develop a forest management, the assessment of factors associated with the participation of rural households in the collection and marketing of the NTFPs and the extent of collection, is of great importance as far as livelihood of indigenous community is concerned. Hence, the present study is undertaken with the following objectives. |
| Experiment Group | Social Science |
| Unit Type | (01)RESEARCH UNIT |
| Unit | (41)AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS (NAVSARI) |
| Department | (214)Economics |
| BudgetHead | (334/05018/00)334/12/REG/00698 |
| Objective |
Objectives 1. To study the trends of different major Non-Timber Forest Products in Gujarat 2. To identify the marketing channels of major Non-Timber Forest Products 3. To estimate market margin and price spread of major Non-Timber Forest Products 4. To elicit the constraints faced by collectors in marketing of Non-Timber Forest Products |
| PI Name | (NAU-EMP-1995-000728)JAYANTILAL JERAJBHAI MAKADIA |
| PI Email | jjmakadia@nau.in |
| PI Mobile | 9825640825 |
| Year of Approval | 2023 |
| Commencement Year | 2023 |
| Completion Year | 2025 |
| Research Methodology |
Methodology The study is confined to Gujarat state. The secondary data on different major non-timber forest products will be collected product-wise for the Gujarat state as a whole. The forest area of Gujarat is divided into 14 different circles. Out of which the Dangs range of Gujarat forest will be selected purposively to collect the primary data required for the study because it occupies a very dense forest cover and has the highest human population in the forest. The district is very rich in protected forest (PF) as well as reserved forest (RF), which comprises 59.80 percent of the total land of the Dangs. Dangs Range comprises of three talukas. Out of these talukas, two talukas will be selected randomly for the study. Five villages will be selected purposively from each selected taluka considering the population and marketing sites of NTFPs. 10 respondents from each village will be selected randomly from NTFP collectors. Thus, the total sample size will be of 100 respondents. The selected respondents will be interviewed with the help of a well-structured questionnaire and various socio-economic characteristics, information about the collection of NTFPs, its income, employment, methods of selling etc. will be recorded for the study. In the process of marketing (buying, selling and processing) of non-timber forest products, the market functionaries will be either a Government agency, Van Kaliyan Samiti, through Self Help Groups (SHGs) and Private merchants, Wholesaler, village level Kochia (retailer) etc. As per the availability, appropriate marketing intermediaries will be selected randomly and interviewed for the purpose of estimating marketing costs and processing charges involved and information related to the marketing of NTFPs The primary as well as secondary data will be used and analyzed for the study. The secondary data on the quantity and value of different major Non-Timber Forest products (NTFPs) from 1997-98 to 2020-21 will be compiled from different annual reports of the Gujarat State Forest Department Corporation (GSFDC). Secondary data will be collected in first year (2023-24). The primary data will be collected in the second year (2024-25) from selected respondents by using a well-designed questionnaire. Market-related information will be collected through retailers, wholesalers, Government agencies etc.
|
|
(NAU-EMP-1995-000728) JAYANTILAL JERAJBHAI MAKADIA |
jjmakadia@nau.in | 9825640825 | 03-10-2023 |
|
|
| Sr. No. | Operation Date | Nature of Data | Value of Data | Operation Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sr. No. | Operation Date | Operation Status | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sr. No. | Operation Date | Operation Status | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sr. No. | Operation Date | Operation Status | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|