Income from sale of tendu leaves sees rise

Mumbai: As a part of Communities Forest Resource (CFR) management, Maharashtra has seen an increasing trend in the auction of Tendu leaves by gram sabhas, as per a Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) report. 

As the average household income from tendu leaves has also increased from Rs 3,630 to Rs 9,164 between 2013 and 2016, experts from CSE, Delhi has highlighted that how native plantation by communities help in conserving the forests along with uplifting the communities.

“Not only the CFR helps in conservation of forest areas, but it also helps in providing livelihood to the forest communities. It could be seen in Maharashtra where the average household income from tendu leaves has seen a three-fold increase,” said Mr. Chandra Bhushan, deputy director general, CSE. 

The report stated that last year, 140 villages in the Korchi, Dhanora and Gadchirolli taluks of Gadchirolli district organized themselves into a Mahasangh and carried out the auction of tendu leaves, fetching them Rs 17.1 crore in the first year. 

In Gondia district of Maharashtra, gram sabhas’ have been auctioning tendu leaves profitably under CFR since 2013. From 2013 to 2016, the turnover from tendu leaves exceeded Rs 3 crore and the average annual earnings for a village was a little over Rs 4 lakh.

“While we have been channelling funds to support the CFR management in forests, in encroachment-affected forest areas like Amravati and Gondia, we have also helped in removing encroachers. The tribal department is also managing tendu leaves storage centres in Gondia and other places,” said an official from the State forest department.