Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) as a source of livelihood option for forest dwellers in Paralakhemundi Forest Division of Odisha Hari S1, Nayak MR1,*, Das AR1, Satpathy SS1, Das HK2, Garnaik C2 1Department of Silviculture and Agroforestry, College of Forestry, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, 751003, Odisha, India 2Department of Natural Resource Management, College of Forestry, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, 751003, Odisha, India *Email for correspondence: mrnayak.forestry@ouat.ac.in
Online Published on 26 October, 2023. Abstract The present study was carried out in Paralakhemundi forest division on randomly selected 80 respondents. The data were collected through a structured survey questionnaire, analyzed with appropriate statistical methods. It was observed that in the study area, the respondents met their food and income needs from various livelihood activities like collection of NTFPs, wage earning, agriculture, livestock rearing, services and allied activities. Maximum number of the respondents practiced agricultural work in their own land and leased land (84.00%). Most of the respondents (72%) were involved in NTFPs collection. Maximum employment (31.7%) was generated from agriculture followed by NTFPs collection (25.0%). Agriculture generated the highest income per household per year (35.82%) as majority of the population had own land, followed by NTFPs (22.38%). NTFPs like Siali leaf, Harida, Bahada, amla, Mahula and tamarind were collected at the forest site. Out of all the NTFPs collected by the respondents, all NTFPs were collected seasonally. Almost every household of the surveyed area was involved in collection of tamarind, Mahula, Harida, Bahada etc. Highest net return was obtained from Mahula (Rs 3,120) followed by Siali leaf (Rs 1,800), amla (Rs 1,350), tamarind (Rs 860), Harida (Rs 270) and Bahada (Rs 100). The total income from the NTFPs was about Rs 7,500 per household. Top Keywords Forest dwellers, Employment, Livelihood, NTFPs, Collection, Income generation. Top |