NTFP encompasses materials derived from forests for various uses, including commercial and personal applications. Examples include timber, paper, and firewood. Additionally, they include “special forest products” like medicinal herbs, fungi, edible fruits and nuts, and other natural resources.
The Chalakudy FDA has been engaging in the sustainable collection, value-addition, management, and sales of Non-timber Forest Products (NTFPs). The major NTFPs collected by the tribal communities of Chalakudy are honey, turmeric, dammer, shikakai, wild nutmeg, incha, etc. The government provides a minimum support price (MSP for MFP scheme) for the NTFPs collected to avoid exploitation by the middlemen. The profit generated from the sales of NTFP is reverted to the tribal communities.
Chalakudy FDA, in addition, is the pioneer in establishing an e-commerce sales platform (vanasree.in) for Vanasree products, thereby extending its reach to a more considerable section of the population. The Vanasree unit of the Chalakudy FDA also takes part in several local and national exhibitions throughout the year as well.
