Chhattisgarh Minor Forest Produce Co-Operative Fedration Ltd.

.: Introduction

The Forest Ecosystem
Chhattisgarh having 44 percent geographical area under forest is very rich in biodiversity because of favorable agroclimatic conditions like good rainfall and comparatively less biotic interference. State has dense forest cover with all the three canopies in the forest area. The forest ecosystems can be broadly classified into following three types depending upon species composition.

S.No	Forest Type	Area (Sq km)	% of G.A.	Biodiversity status
1.	Sal Forests	19682	14.56	Very Rich
2.	Teak Forests	5858	4.33	Fairly Rich
3.	Mixed Forests	34230	25.32	Rich
	Total	59772	44.21

Non wood forest produce (NWFP)
           Non wood forest produce is the produce from various forest species such as fruits, seeds, leaves, barks, roots, flowers and grasses etc. including entire plants of medicinal herbs/shrubs. Chhattisgarh forest ecosystems are very rich in these Non wood forest products.
           Chhattisgarh State Minor Forest Produce (Trading & Development )Co-Operative Federation Ltd. Raipur is the organization created with an objective to promote trade and development of minor forest produce in the interest of MFP collectors, mostly tribals. Main tasks of the Federation are -
1. Collection and trade of following nationalised minor forest produce
     (a) Tendu leaves
      (b) Sal Seed
      (c) Harra
      (d) Gums of Kullu, Dhawda, Khair and Babool
2. Collection and trade of non nationalised minor forest produce including medicinal and aromatic plants     with assured market tie up.
3. Promotion of minor forest produce based processing units.
4. Conservation, development and sustainable utilization of minor forest produce.
5. Promotion of cultivation of minor forest produce Species including medicinal, aromatic and dye plants.
        There are many NWFP species of commercial importance in the state. The distribution and production of these species varies widely with respect to time and space except for a few species.

Trade Volume of NWFP in Chhattisgarh

S. No.	Category of NWFP	Species/Produce	Estimated Trade in Rs. crores
1.	Nationalised	Tendu leaves, Sal seed, Harra and Gums-Kullu, Dhawda, Babul, Khair	375
2.	Non Nationalised – Non medicinal	Imli, Mahua, lac, Mahul Leaves, chironjee etc.	275
3.	Non Nationalised – Medicinal	Baibaring, Vanjeera, Kalmegh, Aonla etc.	50
		Total	700

These produce are used by rural communities as medicine, and food. Moreover, the rural communities earn substantial income especially during non-agriculture season through the collection and sale of these produce. Currently, trade in nationalized NWFP is organized and controlled by the Chhattisgarh State Minor Forest Produce Co-operative Federation. The unorganized trade of non-nationalized NWFP/Medicinal plants has led to low collection prices to the collectors and unsustainable harvesting of MFP form forest areas. Moreover processing and industrial units are mainly located outside the state.
The Chhattisgarh Government has declared the state as "Herbal state" with an objective to conserve NWFP resources including medicinal plants, cultivation of medicinal plants, non destructive harvesting, promote organized trade and promote NWFP based industries for processing of MFP so as to generate the additional employment opportunities in the state and provide health cover. A taskforce headed by Conservator of Forests has been constituted within MFP Federation to achieve the objectives of herbal state.

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