National Workshop On Tribal Enterprise With focus On Honey, Bamboo & Lac

Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda, inaugurated a “National Workshop on Tribal Enterprise with focus on Honey, Bamboo and Lac” organized by TRIFED and released the ‘Flyers and Reports on (1) Bamboo and Bamboonomics ; (2) Lac; and (3) Honey on the occasion.

Delivering inaugural address, Arjun Munda said that the focus of such efforts should not be confined to job creation only but should focus on fulfilling the needs of the market. Support system and research should be market driven and equilibrium should be maintained between the demand and supply in the market. For these products, markets should be innovation and research based. The quality and prices of the products should also be maintained properly. The tribals should be treated as entrepreneurs and efforts should be made to upgrade them in technology.

After inaugural session, Technical Sessions were held on the Bamboo Products, Lac Products and Honey in which experts presented their Presentations on the success stories, production, use and business related to these products.National Workshop was an initiative to formulate a strategy for establishing tribal enterprises based on skill and local resources available particularly in Bamboo, Honey and Lac. In the workshop, National and International experts deliberated and gave their views and ideas for establishing implementable and commercially viable Tribal Enterprises. The expert insight and deliberation will explore the significance of Bamboo, Lac and Honey to address livelihoods of tribal communities across the country. The workshop also introduced feasible technologies and process for production of value-added products from Bamboo, Lac and Honey.

Bamboo

India is the world’s second largest cultivator of bamboo after China, with 136 species and 23 general (out of which about 19 care indigenous) spread over 13.96 million hectares. According to the Union Ministry of Agricultural and Former Welfare, India’s annual Bamboo production is estimated at 3.23 million tons. Poor yield of Bamboo is one of the perennial problems in India. In contrast to China’s average yield of 50 MT/Ha, the maximal yield range in India is 10-15 MT/ha. This shows that there is lot of scope for bamboo enterprise based on the good stock. The bamboo is used in different types of products and it is a very good earning option for the tribals, for which necessary seed money, facilities and expertise need to be provided to tribal artisans. The Bamboo Enterprises can give immediate results leading to substantial increase income of tribal artisans.

Honey

"As per the latest data from the ‘National Bee Board’ under the Department of Agriculture, the country's total honey production reported in 2017-18 was 1.05 lakh metric tonnes, compared to the 35,000 metric tonnes in 2005-06. The major part of it comes from Apisdorsata. With international demand for honey growing, India exports 50 per cent of the commodity and in the last 12 years, exports have increased by 207 per cent. India has exported 61,333.88 MT of natural honey worth Rs.732.16 crores i.e. USD 105.48 million dollars to USA, Australia, UAE, Saudi Arabia. Morocco, Qatar Germany, UK, Japan, France, Spain and Italy being the main markets .

The tribals can be provided with trainings along with tools and kits for scientific extraction/collection and processing of honey from the beehive and thus the tribal SHGs can play a crucial role in this regard. Besides collaboration with KVlC, there is a need to collaborate with the forest departments for wild honey collection and protection, conservation and propagation of the tree species like Adina cardifolia and Trivia nudiflora that are preferred by bees to nest colonies. 

As per the latest government estimates, large scale employment in the beekeeping sector is estimated to generate around 3 lakhman-working days by maintaining 10,000 bee colonies. The honey is an excellent source of earning and TRIFED is committed towards Prime Minister’s vision of a “Sweet Revolution” by way of making people prosper though production and trade in honey.

Lac

"Lac resin was once imported in sizeable quantity into Europe from India along with Eastern woods. It has been seen that the Lac is mostly cultivated by poor tribals to supplement their agricultural income. Lac cultivation in India is mainly confined to the states of Jharkhand which contribute 57% of the total production, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 24% and the balance 19% is contributed by Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal. This cultivation has proved to be a subsidiary source of income for the tribals. In the mid-1950s. Indian annual production was about 50, 000 tons of stick lac and export about 29,000 tons of lac. By the late 1980s, the figures were about 12,000 tons and 7,000 tons  respectively. However, during 1992-93, Indian lac exports fell further to 4,500 tons only. On the contrary, during the same period, the countries like Thailand & China were able to increase their lac exports. Presently Indian lac export is almost non-existent, which needs to be revived. Lac with its availability and possibilities of cultivation in tribal areas has a great potential in creating livelihood and income generation opportunities for tribal communities.

शहद, बांस और लाह पर फोकस के साथ जनजातीय उद्यम पर कार्यशाला

केन्द्रीय जनजातीय मामलों के मंत्री अर्जुन मुण्डा ने आज नई दिल्ली में ट्राईफेड तथा जनजातीय मामलों के मंत्रालय द्वारा आयोजित शहद, बांस और लाह पर फोकस के साथ जनजातीय उद्यम पर राष्ट्रीय कार्यशाला का उद्घाटन किया। मुण्डा ने बांस तथा बांस अर्थव्यवस्था, लाह तथा शहद पर रिपोर्ट जारी की।

अपने उद्घाटन भाषण में अर्जुन मुण्डा ने कहा कि इस तरह के प्रयासों का फोकस केवल रोजगार सृजन तक सीमित नहीं रहना चाहिए बल्कि बाजार की आवश्यकताएं पूरी करने पर फोकस होना चाहिए। उन्होंने कहा कि समर्थन प्रणाली और अनुसंधान बाजार प्रेरित होने चाहिए और बाजार में मांग और आपूर्ति के बीच संतुलन बनाए रखना चाहिए। उन्होंने कहा कि इन उत्पादों के लिए बाजार को नवाचारी और अनुसंधान आधारित होना चाहिए। उत्पादों की गुणवत्ता और कीमतें भी उचित ढ़ंग से बनाई रखी जानी चाहिए। जनजातीय लोगों के साथ उद्यमी की तरह व्यवहार करने चाहिए और उन्हें टेक्नोलॉजी में उन्नत बनाने के प्रयास किए जाने चाहिए।

उद्घाटन सत्र के बाद बांस उत्पादों, लाह उत्पादों और शहद पर तकनीकी सत्र का आयोजन किया गया, जिसमें विशेषज्ञों ने इन उत्पादों से संबंधित सफलता की गाथाओं, उत्पादन, उपयोग और व्यवसाय पर प्रेजेन्टेशन दिया। राष्ट्रीय कार्यशाला का उद्देश्य बांस, शहद और लाह के क्षेत्र में कौशल और स्थानीय संसाधनों पर आधारित जनजातीय उद्यम स्थापित करने के लिए रणनीति बनाना है। कार्यशाला में राष्ट्रीय और अंतर्राष्ट्रीय विशेषज्ञों ने विचार –विमर्श किया और कार्य योग्य तथा वाणिज्यिक रूप से व्यवहारिक जनजातीय उद्यम स्थापित करने के बारे में अपनी राय प्रकट की।

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