Tribal communities in five panchayats in Wayanad district are being equipped to take up the conservation and cultivation of medicinal plants under a project aimed at providing livelihood support to protect local biodiversity.
The project, being executed by the Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB), seeks to establish a decentralised system for cultivation, sustainable harvesting and value addition of medicinal plant resources through Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs).
Tribespeople in the Thavinjal, Poothadi, Tirunelli, Noolpuzha and Pozhuthana panchayats are being trained in the pilot phase of the Rs.50-lakh project funded by the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB). The target groups belonging to the Paniya, Kurichia, Mullu Kuruma and Kattu Naikan communities were selected for their dependence on forest resources for their livelihood.
Infrastructure support
The KSBB is providing the communities with infrastructure support and marketing linkages. The BMCs in the five panchayats will take the initiative for organic cultivation, sustainable collection, post-harvest management and marketing of 38 species of medicinal plants, including 10 key species, suggested by NMPB.
“The market for medicinal plants is largely unorganised, leaving tribepeople vulnerable to exploitation by middlemen,” says K.P. Laladhas, Member Secretary, KSBB. “Destructive methods of harvesting have pushed many species to the verge of extinction while poor post harvest management has been found to affect the quality of raw material for the herbal drug industry.”
The BMCs have identified land for farming in the panchayats and a buy-back mechanism has been established in association with the Ayurvedic Medical Association. A corpus fund has been set up
Micro-cluster
A micro-cluster involving tribespeople, farmers and members of Kudumbasree units and representatives of Vana Samrakshana Samithies is being constituted in the panchayats to make value-added products from medicinal plants.
