Collection and marketing of Non-Timber forest products in Kendujhar District of Odisha

Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) play an important role in the socioeconomic development of tribal people residing in forest areas. This study was undertaken with the objectives of highlighting the importance of NTFPs in the economy of forest dependent communities of Kendujhar district of Odisha, to obtain information on collection, consumption and sale of different NTFPs, to analyse the existing marketing system of NTFPs in the district, to identify the gap in marketing systems along with its redressal mechanisms. For the purpose, 120 households were selected randomly from six villages from two Blocks(Patana & Bansapal) of Kendujhar district. The major findings of the present study revealed that the average quantity of NTFPs collected (including both edible and non-edible products) was 454.18 Kg per household, out of which 38.09 per cent were consumed and rest 61.91 per cent were sold in the market. An average annual income of Rs. 6735.29 per household was generated through the selling of NTFPs by these tribal people. Amongst the NTFPs, sal leaves contributes highest income (34.84 per cent) followed by Mahua flower. There were three types of marketing channels for the marketing of major NTFPs viz. Channel-I: Collector-Consumer, Channel-II: Collector-Village level retailer-Wholesaler-Consumer, Channel-III: Collector-TDCC/OFDC (through commission agent)-Consumer. On an average 8.33% of NTFPs were marketed through channel-I, 66.67% through Channel-II and 25% through Channel-III. From the price spread analysis of different NTFPs, it was observed that producer's share in consumer rupee was highest in channel-I. The marketing cost was observed highest in channel-III for all the major NTFPs traded. Deforestation, incidence of forest fire, long time consuming process, storage problem and improper pricing were the major constraints towards the collection, processing and marketing of forest produce.. Study suggested that NTFPs can be the alternative source of rural income and employment through scientific and in-destructive harvesting of NTFPs followed by effective marketing and at the same time making people coming forward to protect the forest.