An awareness campaign has been launched on how to sell minor forest products from the forests of Odisha at the minimum support price. While the TDCC department of the state government has listed 21 types of minor forest products available from the forests, necessary steps are being taken to ensure that the collectors can sell these forest products at the minimum support price. Those who are interested in selling the forest products collected by the primary collectors from the forests can reach the minor forest products collection center with the necessary documents. The primary collector will register his name by submitting his Aadhaar card, bank passbook, mobile number, after which a receipt or voucher will be provided regarding the minor forest products submitted to the collection center. After this, the state government’s TDCC and L have made arrangements for tagging and packing of minor forest produce. With this, the primary collectors collecting minor forest produce from the forests, instead of falling victim to exploitation by any trader or middleman, can directly sell it to the collection center at the lowest subsidized price. Arrangements have been made to pay money directly to the account of the primary collectors for minor forest produce. The TDCC department of the state government has included a total of 21 types of products such as seeded butternut squash, salam manji, karanja manji, mehula manji, harida, sal leaves, wild honey, safflower seeds, seedless butternut squash, dried amla, almond seeds, and bahada in minor forest produce. Currently, various types of low-altitude products, including honeysuckle and salamandhi, are being harvested, and TDCC is creating widespread public awareness to benefit from this.
