Farm plan to help tribals reap profits

As many as 342 tribal families in the foothills of the Western Ghats will soon be equipped to take up commercial cultivation of spices and medicinal plants under a participatory project launched by the Forest Department. Funded by the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), the two-year project will be implemented in 11 tribal settlements in the Agasthyavanam Biological Park and 18 colonies in the Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary. The department has identified pepper and two medicinal herbs, namely arogyapacha (Tricopus zeylanicus) and kasthurimanjal (Curcuma aromatica), for cultivation as intercrop. Under the project, the tribal communities will be encouraged to take up cultivation, scientific harvesting, storing, grading, processing and marketing of the produce. Two Eco Development Committees (EDC) in the area will procure the produce directly from the farmers and sell it to companies manufacturing herbal products. While 75 per cent of the profit will be distributed as bonus to the tribal families, 25 per cent is to be utilised for a revolving community fund. According to K.J. Varghese, Conservator of Forests, Agasthyavanam Biological Park, the project is designed to help the tribal families to become financially independent. "For many of them, it means liberation from unscrupulous moneylenders who have been fleecing them for years. We have launched a survey to assess the financial liabilities of the beneficiary families."The first procurement is expected by December this year. NMPB has sanctioned an assistance of Rs.24 lakh for infrastructure and Rs.8 lakh for purchase of equipment. Value addition is an important component of the project. The EDCs will be encouraged to set up a central processing unit equipped with solar drier, pulveriser, packing machine, pepper grading machine and storage containers. The department has plans to establish a central nursery for production of seedlings. The main procurement centre is likely to be located at Kottoor where a weekly tribal market is functional. "We will ensure that only organic farming methods are followed," Mr.Varghese said. Forest officials point out that the tribal settlements in the Western Ghats region are best suited for cultivation of medicinal plants because of the environmental conditions. Arogyapacha is the basic raw material for Jeevani, a compound herbal drug developed by the Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (TBGRI) based on the traditional knowledge of the Kani tribe. Kasthurimanjal is a basic ingredient in a range of cosmetics manufactured by pharmaceutical companies. The tribal families currently produce about two tonnes of kasthurimanjal and five tonnes of pepper. Presently, marketing is done through tribal cooperative societies. Collection and payments are not regular and the tribals are forced to sell at prices much lower than the market rate.The project aims at enhancing the production to four tonnes of kasthurimanjal and seven tonnes of pepper in two years. Two tonnes of arogyapacha are also expected to be produced. The government sector Oushadhi has expressed interest in direct procurement of medicinal herbs from EDCs.

The Hindu, 13^th October 2008